CASA's recent changes to adopt a just culture approach to aviation safety regulation have drawn support from the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), an international body dedicated to advancing aviation safety.
Speaking at the Regional Aviation Association national convention in the Hunter Valley last week, FSF general counsel Kenneth Quinn praised CASA and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for their new regulatory philosophies.
“These leading national civil aviation authorities are embarking on enlightened best practices to compliance and enforcement by emphasizing the importance of proportionality, discretion, and remedial action to address safety issues," Quinn said.
"The vast majority of deviation from the rules are due to human factors, honest mistakes, or diminished skills, where training and education are appropriate corrective measures, not punishment or enforcement. All countries should closely examine CASA’s and FAA’s new, forward-thinking compliance and enforcement philosophies and get away from outdated ‘cop-on-the-beat’ mentality, where inspectors are looking to write up violations, instead of helping organizations and individuals become compliant and enhance safety.”
CASA released it's new regulatory philosophy on 16 September this year, which included the principles of just culture. The FAA's Compliance Philosophy Order, released earlier in the same month, similarly encompass an approach where violations that are not flagrant or willful may be dealt with by remedial rather than punitive action.
“These modern safety management enforcement philosophies, which need extensive training and ‘buy in’ from front-line inspectors to senior management can rapidly re-establish trust between the regulator and the regulated, and encourage people to come forward to admit mistakes, turning them into teaching moments that can save lives,” Quinn said.