The ‘European Corporate Just Culture Declaration’ at a High-Level Conference on ‘Saving lives with safety information’, in Brussels is a commitment from wide parts of the sector to cooperate at company level to encourage pilots and other safety professionals to report safety occurrences without fear of reprisals.
European pilots joined aviation stakeholders in signing the ‘European Corporate Just Culture Declaration’ at a High-Level Conference on “Saving lives with safety information”, in Brussels. The Declaration is a commitment from wide parts of the sector to cooperate at company level to encourage pilots and other safety professionals to report safety occurrences without fear of reprisals. The Declaration comes in the context of the new EU Occurrence Reporting Regulation (ORR 376-2014), which will apply across Europe on 15 Nov., marking an important milestone for Europe’s aviation safety system.
Speaking at the official signing ceremony, ECA President Capt. Dirk Polloczek said: “Behind this signature stands the European pilots’ firm commitment to work with other stakeholder to improve the reporting of occurrences at company level. Such reporting, however, will only be encouraged if it takes place in a Just Culture environment, based on mutual trust. We therefore fully support the key principles outlined in the Declaration and are confident that it will be a strong basis for aviation professionals and their management to make Just Culture a reality in each and every organisation in Europe.”
“To the public at large, the history of air accidents is mostly a history of disasters”, says Paul Reuter, ECA Technical Director. “But we, professional pilots, know that there are many safety occurrences which had no catastrophic consequences but should serve as a learning platform for all of us. An error, slip or lapse could happen as often as every 30 minutes. Knowing what and why it happened can help us prevent it in the future. This is why we must ensure the continued flow of occurrence information, the ‘lifeblood’ of our aviation safety system.”
But procedures and legislation alone will do little to create an environment of trust, one where safety professionals report possible errors without fear of reprisal or blame. A Just Culture environment is therefore essential to make the new Occurrence Reporting Regulation work in practice.
“At its core, Just Culture is pretty simple: people make ‘honest errors’ and punishing them for this will make them stop reporting such errors. We will therefore continue to actively honour our commitment made today and do all we can to pave the way for a more open and transparent system, with a clear, documented and easy-to-understand ‘Just Culture’ that is lived and ‘breathed’ at all levels of an organisation,” said Dirk Polloczek.
ERA signs Just Culture Declaration – European aviation safety enabler
Simon McNamara, Director General of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA), also signed the Just Culture Declaration.
“Safety is of paramount importance to ERA and its members. A Just Culture environment has been shown to be a real safety enabler and we are delighted to support and promote the Declaration to our members – the result of considerable collaboration and co-ordination across the industry. I am sure that the Just Culture Declaration will have an extremely positive impact on maintaining and improving aviation safety,” says Simon McNamara, Director General of ERA.
Commissioner Violeta Bulc explains: “The safety of European citizens is of utmost importance to this Commission. If we want to continue to be world leaders, maintaining European aviation as the safest way to travel, we will have to make Just Culture a living reality. Today’s Declaration expresses this commitment. It is the shared vision of employers and staff on what should be done to make Just Culture real.”
The Declaration is a political commitment and is not legally binding. However, it sets out the core principles shared by the main players in the European aviation industry and supports existing legislation, in particular Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation, and is fully consistent with applicable rules. Signatories of the Declaration will continue to work together to develop guidance and industry best practices material to promote Just Culture implementation.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
