I’ve been thinking about safety cultures at aviation entities for a few reasons. For one, as I write, it’s the start of a new year and a good time for resolutions. One such resolution could be striving to improve the safety culture of your organization for the year 2019. I’ve been thinking about that for some of the organizations I consult with as a way of motivating what should be a regular review of a business’s safety culture. For those of you who don’t have the span of control to improve an entire organization’s safety culture—although, to any owners or chief executives who may be reading this, you do—but any manager or supervisor can influence the area they have control over. And I say influence; it’s ultimately the head of the organization who really controls the safety culture, but more about that in a minute.
Another reason for this particular topic is the partial shutdown of the U.S. government and accompanying furlough of FAA safety inspectors and NTSB accident investigators. (Shortly after this writing, the two sides reached an agreement to open temporarily, but the future was uncertain.) For inexplicable reasons, the FAA decided in a 2013 shutdown that the bulk of its safety inspectors would no longer be considered essential workers, as they were in previous shutdowns. It seems that the decision to consider safety inspectors non-essential has continued in this shutdown. According to an FAA statement on Twitter: “if we identify an issue, we recall inspectors and engineers to address it.” Who is identifying issues if inspectors aren’t out there inspecting or at least evaluating reports coming in from whistleblowers or the public? This situation highlights for me the importance of a strong safety culture so that you don’t need the fear of a government inspection to keep management or employees focused on doing the right thing.
With more than 40 years experience in the aviation industry, The Honorable John Goglia, was the first and only Airframe and Powerplant mechanic to receive a presidential appointment to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). He served from August 1995 to June 2004.
As a Board Member, Mr. Goglia distinguished himself in numerous areas of transportation safety. In particular, he was instrumental in raising awareness of airport safety issues, including the importance of airport crash fire and rescue operations and the dangers of wildlife at airports. He played a key role in focusing international attention on the increasing significance of aircraft maintenance in aviation accidents. He pressed, successfully, for greater integration of civilian and military safety information, becoming a featured speaker at national aviation symposiums attended by military leaders and major defense contractors. He is a leading proponent of airplane child safety seats.
Prior to becoming a Board Member, Mr. Goglia held numerous positions in the airline industry. He started as a mechanic for United Airlines and eventually joined Allegheny, which became USAir. Additionally, he was involved for more than 20 years as a union flight safety representative on accident investigation teams. There, he developed a safety program for his union, the International Association of Machinists, and was its representative for NTSB investigations. For twelve years, he operated his own aircraft service company.
Numerous prestigious groups have recognized Mr. Goglia’s contributions to aviation safety. Aviation Week & Space Technology awarded him a coveted 2004 Laurel for his outstanding service as an NTSB Board member. The Society of Automotive Engineers presented him with the Aerospace Chair Award for outstanding leadership in 2003 and the Marvin Whitlock Award for outstanding management accomplishment in 2002.
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