HSC seeks step change from the Civil Air Transport industry

HSC press release - C024:04 - 28 June 2004

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) today encouraged the civil air transport industry to continue to work in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 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, said:

"We want to work in partnership with employers, trade unions and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) 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 (ISG) 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:

"For our part, we want to improve how we as the Commission and Executive discharge our functions to maintain and improve the health and safety performance of GB Plc. We aim to be a modern regulator, acting smarter, with a clear strategy and responsive to industry needs."

Notes for editors

1. The Airport Operators' Association (AOA) is the trade association that represents the interests of British airports. Its membership comprises 71 airports representing all the international hub and major regional airports, in addition to many serving community, business and leisure aviation. The Operations and Safety Conference is a key annual event in the AOA calendar. This year the conference was held at Oulton Hall, near Leeds.
2. In 2002 AOA member airports handled more than 190 million passengers, nearly 2.5 million tonnes of freight and over 2 million air transport movements. The aviation industry contributes some £10 billion to the UK's annual gross domestic product (around 1.4% of total GDP).
3. AOA are represented, along with airlines, ground handlers and trade unions, on the Industry Strategy Group (ISG) formed with HSE in Spring 2003 to take forward "Revitalising Health and Safety in Air Transport", the industry's response to the Government's strategy Revitalising Health and Safety.
4. Among other work, the ISG has agreed provisional targets for accident and ill health reduction as follows: a 50% reduction in reportable musculoskeletal incidents by 2010/ 2011 (with a 20% reduction by 2005/2006) and a 20% reduction in reportable workplace transport and falls from height accidents by 2010/11.
5. The ISG has made considerable progress with Revitalising Health and Safety in Air Transport. It has:
   • Agreed tough provisional targets in the areas of musculoskeletal disorders, workplace transport and falls from height;
   • Begun to develop strategies to achieve these targets;
   • Made real progress in sharing best practice;
   • Developed an international presence through its links with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the airlines involved in their partnership agreement;
   • Helped HSE to develop guidance for its inspectors on key issues; and
   • Is assisting with research on one of the most difficult areas - management of aircraft turnround.
6. Reported incidents in air transport for the three years to 2002 were:
   
   

   Year1	Reported incidents2	Air Traffice Movements '000s3	Rate per 1,000 ATM	Passengers '000,000s4	Rate per 1,000,000 passengerse	Cargo '000 tonnes	Rate per 1,000 tonnes
   99/00	1503	1556	0.97	150.9	9.96	2,138	0.70
   00/01	1645	1635	1.01	161.3	10.2	2,260	0.73
   01/02	1728	1666	1.04	162.1	10.66	2,089	0.83

   Notes: Aviation data taken from CAA statistics
   ¹ Annual data - HSE year April 1999 to March 2000 compared to ATM/ APM calendar year data for 1999 etc
   ² Accidents at airports reported to HSE under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
   ³Air transport movements in thousands - CAA data for all operators at UK airports includes data for Belfast and UK oil rigs which HSE accident figures do not include. Movements are for aircraft landing or take-off.
   ⁴ Terminal passengers (arrivals or departures) in millions.
7. At airports HSE enforces health and safety legislation covering activities on the ground, such as aircraft maintenance, catering, refuelling and loading and unloading of aircraft. Aircraft safety is regulated by the CAA Safety Regulation Group (SRG). HSE and CAA SRG have a Memorandum of Understanding that sets out the interface between the organisations and helps them work together. The Memorandum is available on the web at: http://www.caa.co.uk/srg/safety_initiatives/default.asp?page=700
8. HSC published "A strategy for workplace health and safety in Great Britain to 2010 and beyond" in February 2004. The strategy has the support of Ministers and contains four key themes:
   • Partnership working;
   • Providing effective support and involving the workforce;
   • Prioritising on areas of work that will have the greatest impact;
   • Sharing the vision and communicating effectively.
   The strategy is available on the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/strategy.htm

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