I think JR is a bit old hat these days. Sidney D is very good, but there is a new kiddy on the block - Prof Erik Hollnagel, who has written "The ETTO Principle". Which is his view on the Efficiency-Thoroughness Trade-Off. Which postulates that life is a balance between being efficient (minimum amount of steps to achieve the aim) and Thoroughness, taking time to achieve the aim. You can have too much of either, too efficient and mistakes occur due to shortcut taking, too thorough and the deadline/aim is missed.
The book (via Ashgate) is very compelling, but with much of the abstract theory that aviation seems to attract, can I turn that into something tangible for the good and benefit of the organisation ?
Have not finished the book yet, but I would encourage all safety pratictioners to have a read of it.
As a f'rinstance, "Commercial pressure" is quite commonly quoted by pilots trying to get a job done. What I think they are expressing is that they are trying to be thorough in a particular part of the job (esp turnrounds), but feel pressured to sacrifice thoroughness for efficiency, and the potential for mistakes to happen increases.
He also hit the nail on the head when he says "Safety is not something you have - it is something you do". Agree with that wholeheartedly.
There is no metric in this world that can be applied to safety, but there is when it comes to "doing the do". It is the physical and tangible efforts of an individual or an organisation that will define how safe they are or not. SMS is the tangible part of an organisation that supports its day to day, flying programme.
I spent too many man hours pursuing or trying to implement the various abstract theories that have surrounded SMS over the last few years. The penny dropped a couple of years ago, and now all is clear.
Everyone has a role, and everyone has a place in the SMS stucture.
Flight ops folk tend to be too flight ops centric with regard to safety management (been there, done that) it is all about the big picture.
Aviation is a very linear and cyclical business, which makes it predictable.
(It has a beginning middle and end, what I call the "Shed to Bed" theory)
Yep, it is a collection of complexities that all need to work within themselves, and with other agencies that they have to interact with.
Where do most problems occur ? Where one organised system, has to interact with another organised system, it is on the point of interface that most problems occur, there are thousands of examples when you start to thik about it.
In aviation today and in my domain (uk based regional carrier) the problems are on the ground, not in the air. And that is where we concentrate our efforts - a rich hunting ground.
Why on the ground ? because they are in a permanent battle to get the Effectiveness/thoroughness balance right, and are most likely to get it wrong.
Just my three penneth. Dont spend too much time wondering about abstract theories - just get on and "do the do"
BS