Safety Culture Assessment by FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors

The recent Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report identified concerns regarding the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) safety oversight of an air carrier, including a lack of guidance for how inspectors should evaluate and oversee safety culture (OIG, 2020). To help address these concerns, FAA conducted a three-phase program of research designed to support assessment of safety culture by the FAA’s Aviation Safety Inspector (ASI) workforce. In Phase 1, researchers reviewed current practices, identified opportunities for improving safety culture oversight, and provided recommendations for safety culture assessment. In Phase 2, researchers developed and tested a new safety culture assessment approach that is poised for future integration into the Safety Assurance System (SAS). Notably, Response Details for all seven Safety Attributes in SAS were revised and expanded to help better-document potential safety culture concerns that may arise during ASI surveillance. In Phase 3, researchers aligned the Proposed Response Details to help ensure that certificate holders (CHs) would be assessed against the same standard used in its other safety culture efforts. In particular, the Proposed Response Details were mapped to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Harmonized Safety Culture Model (IAEA, 2020).

• Record URL:
  • https://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/media/202339_Safety_Culture_Assessment.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Aviation Administration

  Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, P.O. Box 25082
  Oklahoma City, OK  United States  73125

  Federal Aviation Administration

  Office of Aerospace Medicine, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Authors:
  • Worthington, Kylie K
  • Gay, Robert
  • Hu, Peter T
  • Choi, Inchul
  • Schroeder, David J
• Publication Date: 2023-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 72p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airlines; Assessments; Inspectors; Oversight; Safety culture
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Aviation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01903397
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT/FAA/AM-23/39
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Dec 27 2023 10:29AM