The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has unveiled the country’s State Safety Policy (SSP) statement and inaugurated an 11-member implementation unit to initiate the SSP processes and develop the platform for the implementation of the programme in Nigeria. IME AKPAN writes.
The Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman who inaugurated the committee in Lagos recently explained that the policy statement is expected to provide guidance to all stakeholders to ensure improvement in safety management and practices, including safety reporting within the civil aviation industry.
He added that the SSP was set up in compliance with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 19 on Safety Management, which was adopted by the ICAO Council on February 25, 2013, but became effective on November 14, 2013.
He said the implementation unit would develop national standards, general rulemaking and specific operational policies on safety management principles in line with Standards, Recommended Practices, Procedures of International Civil Aviation Organization and also on a comprehensive analysis of Nigeria aviation systems;
It would also adopt a data-driven and performance-based approach to safety regulation and industry oversight responsibilities where appropriate;
In addition, it would conduct performance-based and compliance-oriented oversight activities within the aviation industry, supported by analysis and identification of safety trends, adopting a risk-based approach in the prioritization of resource allocation to address areas of critical safety concern or need.
Furthermore, it would monitor and measure realistic implementation of the safety performance of Nigerian aviation system through the country’s aggregate safety indicators as well as service providers’ safety performance indicators;
It would collaborate, consult and interact effectively with service providers in the resolution of safety concerns and continuous enhancement of aviation safety as well as promote good safety practices and positive organizational culture within the industry, based on sound safety management principles.
The implementation unit would also establish the provisions for the protection, collection, processing, analysis and exchange of safety information amongst all relevant industry organizations and service providers, with the intent that such information is to be used for safety management purposes only;
It would also allocate sufficient financial and human resources for safety management and oversight and equip staff with proper skills and expertise to discharge their safety oversight and management responsibilities competently; and
More so, it would develop and implement enforcement policy, which will ensure that information derived from the SSP safety data, information analysis and exchange system or service providers’ SMS will not be used as a basis for enforcement action, except in the case of gross negligence and willful deviation.
It would be recalled that Chapter 3 of the ICAO Annex 19 on Safety Management requires each Contracting State to establish an SSP for the management of safety in that state and it “shall be done in order to achieve an Acceptable Level of Safety Performance (ALoSP) in civil aviation.”
The requirement for SSP recognises that States as well as Service Providers have safety responsibilities. The SSP therefore provides a framework within which Service Providers are required to establish a Safety Management System (SMS).
Furthermore, the ICAO Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP) recognises the importance of the establishment and maintenance of fundamental safety oversight systems. These are prerequisites to the full implementation of the SSP and calls on those states with mature safety oversight systems to progress towards full implementation of SSP.
It is required that states that have achieved Effective Implementation (EI) levels of over 60 per cent should fully implement SSP by 2017. Nigeria has achieved 72.1 per cent implementation level during the past ICAO/USOAP Audit of 2006.This is well above the required implementation level.
In addition, Chapter 3 of ICAO Annex 19 on Safety Management and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs), 2009 Parts 3, 6, 9, 12 and 14 states that as part of its SSP, each Contracting State shall require service providers to implement a Safety Management System (SMS).
The service providers are approved training organisations (ATOs) in line with Annex 1, which are exposed to safety risks related to aircraft operations during the provision of their services.
Others are Air Operators Certificate (AOC) holders, Approved Maintenance Organisations (AMO), Air Traffic Control (ATC) service providers, operators of certified aerodromes and the general aviation operators of large or turbojet aircraft.
