Eurocontrol - A Collective Look at Safety

Brussels, Belgium --[ASDWire.com]-- One of the key issues facing European air traffic management safety over the next few years is the shortage of skilled resources needed to support the implementation of Safety Management and Safety Regulation programmes, a workshop held in Brussels has heard.

The workshop ‘How to do safety business together’ was held at EUROCONTROL from 4 to 5 April 2006. It brought together representatives from air navigation service providers, air traffic management and safety consultancy companies, air traffic management regulatory authorities, and manufacturers. Discussions focussed on finding solutions to the issues that could impact the implementation of more effective methods of safety assessment, management, regulation and training.

One of the key issues discussed during the workshop was the need for more skilled resources to support air navigation service providers and air traffic management regulatory authorities – or national supervisory authorities - in their implementation of the various aspects of safety management and safety regulation. In particular there is a need for training specialists for delivering safety courses; ATM safety experts to provide coaching and hands-on support in safety management; and expertise in providing guidance and hands-on support with the implementation of safety assessment and regulation for major ATM system changes. All participants at the workshop expressed support for the need to work more closely together and agreed to explore ways of using resources more effectively.

Dr Erik Merckx, Head of EUROCONTROL’s Safety Enhancement Business Division, says “Much has been done over the past few years to raise the level of ATM safety awareness across Europe, but lack of suitable skilled resources remains a fundamental problem facing the further improvement of safety. We must all work together to build up the core safety skills and ensure that we are making the best use of the resources that are available. This workshop has brought together the stakeholders in the aviation industry that can make this happen and we look forward to working closely with the participants in the future.”

The workshop comes a few weeks after the launch of the new European Safety Programme (ESP) for air traffic management, and participants concluded that working together in a collaborative way will greatly improve the success of the ESP. The aim of the ESP is to focus on safety enhancements in those areas where the greatest benefits will be obtained and, by the end of 2008, to further develop the maturity of air traffic management safety systems across the ECAC States. The ESP addresses five high priority fields needed to reduce risks, both in the air and at airports, especially given the substantial growth in air traffic predicted between now and 2020. These fields include implementation and support of European safety legislation/regulation, incident reporting and data sharing, risk assessment and mitigation in day-to-day operations, system safety defences and safety management enhancement.

Note to Editors:
EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, has as its primary objective to develop a seamless, pan-European air traffic management (ATM) system that fully copes with the growth in air traffic, while maintaining a high level of safety, reducing costs and respecting the environment.

EUROCONTROL has 36 Member States: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

On 8 October 2002, the Member States and the European Community signed a Protocol on the Accession of the European Community to the revised EUROCONTROL Convention. Pending its entry into force after ratification by all Parties, certain provisions of the Protocol are already being provisionally applied.