HSC SEEKS STEP CHANGE FROM THE CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY

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HSC SEEKS STEP CHANGE FROM THE CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY
16 June 2004 - HSE InfoLine

The Health and Safety Commission today encouraged the civil air transport industry to continue to work in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive and trade unions to drive down the costs of accidents and ill health. Speaking at the Airport Operators' Association Operations and Safety Conference, Bill Callaghan, Chair of HSC.

"We want to work in partnership with employers, trade unions and the Civil Aviation Authority to make a step change in performance. We see 'step change' as imperative. For example, the Flight Safety Foundation estimates that $4 billion is lost by the industry globally on aircraft damage alone. This excludes other costs, such as personal injury."

Commenting on the industry's performance, he noted:
"I won't pretend to you that there is not considerable scope for improvement. The trend in incidents reported by the industry to HSE is adverse. It does not matter what you compare the figures against, aircraft movements, passenger numbers or cargo tonnage, the direction is up."

But Mr Callaghan said the industry is taking positive steps to tackle these issues:

"I'm pleased to report movement on key issues. An Industry Strategy Group has made progress on working out what the industry needs to do and how it can do it. For example, it has agreed tough provisional targets in the areas of musculoskeletal disorders, workplace transport and falls from height and begun to develop strategies to achieve them."

He added: "The Airport Operators' Association's work on benchmarking and mapping health and safety competencies are of great importance."

Turning to what the HSC expects from the air transport industry, Mr Callaghan said:

"We want you to sign up to the targets and strategies developed by your colleagues on the ISG, and to deliver those targets and strategies with our help. We also want you to bring the same diligence to health and safety that you bring to aircraft safety."
He also pledged that HSC and HSE were committed to implementing the new HSC strategy and achieving a record of workplace health and safety that leads the world.

http://www.hse.gov.uk

About: HSE InfoLine
Britain's Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are responsible for the regulation of almost all the risks to health and safety arising from work activity in Britain.

The HSE looks after health and safety in nuclear installations and mines, factories, farms, hospitals and schools, offshore gas and oil installations, the safety of the gas grid and the movement of dangerous goods and substances, railway safety, and many other aspects of the protection both of workers and the public. Local authorities are responsible to HSC for enforcement in offices, shops and other parts of the services sector.

The HSC is sponsored by the Department of Work and Pensions and is ultimately accountable to the Minister of State for Work, the Right Honourable Jane Kennedy MP.

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