Audit – Positive or Negative connotation in your operation?

Posted by Fiona Macintyre on Mon, Aug 26, 2013

Audit.  A small but highly significant word.  A word that can illicit so much fear and dread throughout an organization.  There is an automatic negative response to the thought of an audit, it’s seen as something negative, something designed by those in authority just to catch you out.  It is easy to see audit as a negative if it is viewed in this way or as just another tick box exercise designed by authorities.

An audit can be conducted internally, by an external regulatory body or by a supplier.  Regardless of who is conducting the audit, all employees need to be on board with the audit process.  To do so, an organization needs to turn any negativity on its’ head and have an audit seen as a positive.  That means all employees adhering to standard working practices at all times and not just for the audit.

So how does any organization turn negativity and doubt into positivity?  This may be one of the hardest things any organization will do.  Indeed, in any walk of life there will always be those that are negative for the sake of it and will never see a positive in anything, ‘every silver lining has a cloud’!

Company culture can contribute greatly to all employees being on board in an audit process.  How do management convey to their staff that an audit isn’t designed to find out what they are not doing and pull them up for it but rather it is designed to highlight areas across a business that are working well in an attempt to replicate those across the rest of the business?  Highlight the positives and identify the areas that require focus, while also conveying that this is ultimately for the good of the business and subsequently for them as employees.  Organizations successful in doing this have an established learning and sharing culture.  In practice this is not an easy culture to create.

There are many benefits in the audit process that should be promoted.  In terms of aviation, these benefits extend to how the audit process is built into the overall Safety Management System.  An effective and efficient SMS is underpinned by System Safety principles and Quality Management and a large part of that is audit management.

Audits ensure all policies and procedures are working, to verify that processes adhere to standards and regulations and to maintain a level of competency.  Performed regularly, audits contribute to complying with regulatory standards as well as identifying shortfalls and areas of improvement.  Audit Management provides a closed loop system from scheduling, planning, conducting and following up of audits in a manner that supports organization-wide improvement.

The key point in the above statement is – “supports organization-wide improvement.”  Promoting that fact can turn the negative views of an audit into a positive.  By that, I mean ensuring that people understand the reasons for the audit, everyone is on board and fully appreciate the importance of auditing to improve all areas of the business and ultimately as a result reduce their suspicions that the audit is merely performed to catch them out.

To achieve this goal, an open learning and sharing corporate culture is required.  That has to be organization wide and that comes from the top down and vice versa.

In conclusion, it is the culture of an organization that dictates whether employees will view the audit process in a positive light or not.  In saying that, there is no accounting for the naturally negative minded people in life and it wouldn’t matter what type of corporate culture they were working under – they will always moan regardless and I have no answer for getting them on board – that’s a completely different topic.

AIN Online reports “Safety should be a core value for every business aviation operation, not just a priority,” according to Merlin Preuss, CBAA

“Safety should be a core value for every business aviation operation, not just a priority, ” according to Merlin Preuss, CBAA

It’s wrong to label safety a priority, according to Merlin Preuss, vice president of government and legislative affairs for the Canadian Business Aviation Association. “That’s because it’s much too easy to change priorities as the world evolves,” he told last month’s Business Aviation Safety Seminar in Montreal (BASS).

 

 

Sextant Readings Solutions – aviation professionals with focus on Compliance, Quality Management and Quality Assurance, Safety and Risk Management for the Aviation Industry, is an IS-BAO Support Services Affiliate and IS-BAO safety consultant and Auditor

NetJets is the First and Only Private Aviation Company to Achieve Level IV of the FAA’s Safety Management System Pilot Program

NetJets® Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company and the worldwide leader in private aviation, announced today that the company achieved a new safety milestone in entering Level IV of the FAA’s Safety Management System (SMS) Pilot Program.

“The achievement of SMS Level IV underscores NetJets’ commitment to safety and enhances NetJets’ overall compliance-plus aviation safety management system,” said Shane Eyer, president of NetJets Aviation. “NetJets is dedicated to providing the most stringent operational, maintenance and training procedures in the industry and we are proud to reach this important safety milestone.”

NetJets is the first and only private aviation company to achieve Level IV as well as the first fixed-wing 14 CFR 135 operator and the first combined 14 CFR 135 / 91K operator to enter this level.

The FAA Safety Management System Pilot Program provides a four-level system to acknowledge development of a formal SMS according to FAA expectations and international standards. The overall objective of the program is to guide operators with developing and implementing an integrated, comprehensive Safety Management System for their organization. To accomplish this safety milestone, NetJets conducted thousands of hours of additional safety training for its employee group, along with the creation of new management review procedures to ensure the highest levels of safety are always maintained.

When it comes to safety, NetJets never compromises. NetJets’ safety standards meet and in most cases exceed FAA regulatory requirements. From NetJets’ FAA-type-rated pilots for every aircraft type, dual-release system, biannual simulator sessions, superior flight attendant training, FAA-approved in-house meteorologists, international flight planners to the state-of-the-art aircraft and FAA Diamond award winning maintenance program, NetJets leads the industry in every aspect of flight safety.

About NetJets® Inc.

NetJets® Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway® company, is the worldwide leader in private aviation with the largest and most diverse private jet fleet in the world. NetJets began in 1964 as the first aircraft charter and management company in the world. In 1986, NetJets pioneered the concept of fractional aircraft ownership – offering individuals and businesses all of the benefits of whole aircraft ownership and more, at a fraction of the cost. Today, NetJets offers a full range of private aviation solutions through its fractional programs in North America and Europe, including NetJets Shares, NetJets Leases and the Marquis Jet Card®, which provides access to NetJets though a 25-hour jet card. The North America program is managed and operated by NetJets’ subsidiary NetJets Aviation, Inc., and the European program is managed and operated by NetJets Transportes Aéreos, SA, a Portuguese/EU Air Carrier. In the United States, NetJets also offers aircraft management and on-demand charter services through its subsidiary, Executive Jet® Management, Inc. The NetJets companies offer worldwide flight operations. More information on NetJets, NetJets Europe, the Marquis Jet Card, and Executive Jet Management is available at www.netjets.com .

Bristow Group Announces Major New Search And Rescue Contract Award In The United Kingdom

Bristow has a 36-year history of providing UK Search and Rescue services – Employment opportunities anticipated for the UK workforce in facilities, aircraft manufacture, and operations – Contract expected to generate approximately $2.5 billion in revenue

HOUSTON, March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Bristow Group Inc. the leading provider of helicopter services to the offshore energy industry, announced today that The Department for Transport in the United Kingdom has awarded its UK affiliate Bristow Helicopters Limited (Bristow Helicopters) a new contract to provide civilian Search and Rescue (SAR) services for all of the UK. The SAR services contract has a phased-in transition period beginning in April 2015 and continuing to July 2017 and a contract length of approximately ten years.

Under the terms of this contract, Bristow Helicopters will provide 11 Sikorsky S-92 and 11 AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters that will be located at ten bases across the UK. Each SAR base will operate either two S-92s or two AW189s. In addition to the ten bases with 20 aircraft, there will be two fully SAR-equipped training aircraft that can be deployed to any base as needed.

William E. Chiles, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are honored that our affiliate Bristow Helicopters was selected by The Department for Transport to provide this vital service for the people of the United Kingdom. This award will employ 22 of the world’s most technologically advanced and safest helicopters which will dramatically improve the capability to save lives and significantly reduce the UK Government’s costs for the next decade. It is planned that some of the military personnel currently involved in SAR in the UK will join Bristow Helicopters to work under this contract, and we look forward to welcoming them into the Bristow family.”

In early 2012, Bristow Helicopters was awarded a Gap SAR services contract that commences in July 2013, utilizing four, latest technology S-92 helicopters based in Scotland at Stornoway and Sumburgh. The Gap SAR contract is expected to run for about four years until transition occurs for these two bases to the new longer-term contract announced today.

Mike Imlach, Bristow Helicopters Managing Director, said, “Bristow Helicopters has a proven reputation for exceptional UK search and rescue services, having performed such services over 36 years with world-class operations that included unmatched flight safety performance, extensive aircrew training, first class maintenance facilities, supply-chain partners, and project procurement and contract management. Affiliates of Bristow Group Inc. currently operate similar search and rescue services in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Dutch Antilles, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, and Trinidad.”

Under the terms of this new SAR contract, Bristow Helicopters currently anticipates earning approximately $2.5 billion in revenue. Jonathan Baliff, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, added, “We believe that these contract terms and conditions are transformative from an operational and financial standpoint for our company. The number of helicopters operated, combined with the revenue and earnings generated under this contract, will create both a larger and lower risk company going forward.”

“The total capital requirement for this project is expected to be approximately $1 billion, much of which is dedicated to the acquisition of 22 of the most technologically advanced, SAR-equipped S-92 and AW189 helicopters ever built. We believe that the financing plan based on our company’s capital strength was an important criterion for the selection of Bristow Helicopters to provide this life saving service which requires a high level of safety and on-time reliability, and at higher service levels and lower cost than previously anticipated by the UK government. We are confident that Bristow Helicopters will provide excellent rescue services to the people of the United Kingdom.”

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements contained in this news release that state Bristow’s or management’s intentions, expectations or predictions of the future – including its ability to complete and fund the above-referenced SAR services, the timing for beginning the SAR services, expected revenue generation and whether the SAR services will be beneficial to Bristow’s operations are forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statement as result of unanticipated circumstances including but not limited to termination of the contract by the Department or higher costs. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially is contained from time to time in Bristow’s SEC filings, including but not limited to Bristow’s annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Bristow Group Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements, including financial estimates, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

ABOUT BRISTOW GROUP INC. Bristow Group Inc. is the leading provider of helicopter services to the worldwide offshore energy industry based on the number of aircraft operated and one of two helicopter service providers to the offshore energy industry with global operations. The Company has major transportation operations in the North Sea, Nigeria and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including Alaska, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Trinidad. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.bristowgroup.com.

        Contact: Linda McNeill
                 Bristow Group Inc.
                 (713) 267-7622

Bristow Group is has a long history of supporting Helicopter and rotor safety, compliance, safety assurance, quality management, and safety integration.  As an active member of Helicopter Association International (HAI Safety) and promotes Helicopter Safety Management to the industry

Corporate Flight Department

Sextant Readings Solutions iStock_000009033182LargeThe decision to implement an enterprise-wide Safety Management Information System (SMIS) reflects a significant and highly visible commitment of time and capital to a successful safety culture and sets a framework for the collection, analysis and sharing of safety information.

Organizations are expected to define, document and communicate the safety roles, responsibilities and authorities throughout the organization. The SMIS provides a mechanism to capture the roles and responsibilities of the organization’s members for effective routing and assignment of safety-related tasks and activities.

Key safety personnel must be clearly identified in the organization. The SMIS should enable the free flow of hazard and safety event information to these individuals whether fully identifiable, de-identified or anonymous while providing tools for monitoring the effectiveness of safety risk controls.

Ensuring adequate preparedness is contingent on all participants having rapid access to the most current, up-to-date plans and procedures, effective training and documentation and active testing and validation of the Plan and the organization’s ability to implement it.

SMS documentation and records are extensive, reflecting more than just the organization’s SMS Manual and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). All safety-related documentation needs to be configuration/revision controlled. Key recipients (copyholders) must be assured access to the most current versions and the organization must be able to verify receipt and acknowledgement of key documents and removal of obsolete documents. Records control is also a key concern for safety management as well as for compliance. The SMIS should have the capability monitor and control the currency and status of all key documents and records supporting the safety of the operation.

As the saying goes, “the only constant is change”. Today’s dynamic aviation organizations are constantly bombarded with changes that impact their operations, both internally (mission requirements, economic challenges, fleet mix, employee turnover, reorganizations, etc.) and externally (new customers, regulatory requirements, noise restrictions, and procedures, etc.). The SMIS must be flexible enough to accommodate continuous change while providing a consistent structure and functionality that enhances change management rather than obstructing it. This includes the ability to quickly add and remove resources (people) from the system while capturing and reapplying standardized requirements, automatically within the SMIS.

With change comes the opportunity for continuous improvement and continuous improvement demands change. It’s a continuous cycle. Key to successful improvement is the ability to analyze safety performance and identify gaps or weaknesses with improvement potential. Whether identified through audits and evaluations, data analysis, corrective and preventive actions or management reviews, the SMIS must provide the ability to analyze performance, identify opportunities for improvement and enable the successful introduction of changes into the environment.

Safety communication and awareness is about more than displaying banners and slogans in the break room. Real-time access to critical safety information, delivered to all relevant personnel is a minimum requirement for the SMIS. By engaging all involved personnel, expectations and awareness is raised. A SMS Information Management solution  when fully implemented, it (i) collects safety data; (ii) tracks, reports, and accesses risk: (iii) assigns responsibility for corrective action/ preventive action; and (iv) A SMS Information Management solution analysis capability with real-time graphical presentations. It integrates with your existing email and network environment to provide active notification and escalation communications based on user-defined thresholds. A SMS Information Management solution integrates customer complaint management, supplier management, employees, training and assets into a single data system providing you with an unmatched capability to monitor and manage safety across all of your operations.  A SMS Information Management solution supports voluntary and confidential reporting including ASAP, MSAP, ISAP, RSAP (Air, Maintenance, In-flight and Ramp Safety Action Programs respectively), integrates with FOQA and FRMS (such as Jeppesen’s CrewAlert, enables mobile users, and supports IEP programs.

Unlike other software solutions that focus exclusively on reporting, a SMS Information Management solution is based on the PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT cycle promoted by FAA and ICAO in the Global Aviation Safety Roadmap and ISO for global quality systems. This enables a systematic and holistic approach to Safety Management with a single, central solution that integrates the management and analysis of incidents alongside proactive SMS activities such as internal audit providing effective Safety Risk Management and Safety Assurance.