Tuc,
Yes, absolutely right - it's the DA who 'approve' designs, MoD accepts - my apologies for any confusion.
The supervision and control of contractors is a key point, and you are right to raise it. Current PMs have had their hands tied by the sort of stuff you describe, but at the end of the day, they chair the PDRs and CDRs and have the power to call the contractor to account. The problem is that to do so you need be be technically well equipped.
On my recent project in was lucky - I had an absolutely outstanding Chief Tech who acted as my Tech lead and worked with the contractor to get the design right. I was also helped by a good set of requirements, thanks to valuable help from Dstl and QinetiQ.
At the end of the day, you need the confidence (and mutual trust) to work with the contractor to get the right result. Again, I was lucky, I had an excellent prime - Agusta Westland. They don't get the credit they should at times. And I had an equally excellent system integrator - Selex. Again, British and excellent.
Your points about defect and fault investigations are again well made - the new MAA occurrence reporting system hasn't really helped much, and as ever the onus is on the PMs to make sure that any faults are properly reported, assigned the proper hazard assessment and then worked through the system. I do have concerns that the 'organisational trauma' that Haddon-Cave did a good job of exposing is still happening, especially at the 'safety coal face'. There is a tendency to look to 'the Safety Manager' to do a lot of the stuff that a standard Engineering Authority SO2 used to do.
Safety should be an integral part of everything that aviation people do. It should be as natural as breathing and walking around. It should be happening all the time. The MAA is doing what it can to reinforce that culture, but at the end of the day, my own view is that a successful safety culture will only take root when managers at the 'coal face' level, and by that I mean SO1 and SO2, take charge and drive their staffs accordingly.
Best Regards as ever to all those out there trying to do the right things,
Engines
Best Regards as ever
Engines