Safety Culture Assessment and Interventions at Lund University School of Aviation

Abstract: This study describes the safety culture at Lund University School of Aviation (LUSA) at two occasions, separated by a period of approximately one year, and the effects of the interventions that were carried out during this year. The study was conducted by means of two attitude measurement surveys with interviews after the first survey and opportunities for the respondents to propose improvements and give general comments in both surveys. Pilot students, flight and theory instructors, the management group, maintenance technicians and administrators formed the target group. Two research questions were formulated: 1. Can a safety culture analysis identify system properties, that may induce gaps between procedure and practice? 2. Can the results of such analysis form the basis for organizational interventions that may provide prerequisites to bridge such gaps? Behavior is closely related to and influenced by a person’s attitude to certain matters, such as persons, objects, concepts or properties of a system (Guldenmund, 2000). Changes in attitudes to safety matters of the entire population indicate changes in the safety culture (UK's Health and Safety Commission, 1993). A higher acceptance of safety-enhancing matters provides improved prerequisites to bridge existing gaps between procedure and practice through modification of the procedure itself or by enforcing the adherence to it. The culture of an organization also provides guidelines for behavior to its members. Among other system properties, the study shows that production pressure (in here equal to “time pressure”, or “lack of time”) is a prevailing factor that may affect flight safety negatively. The attitude group “Learning” has also received extensive attention. The survey outcome points out that the pilot students do not perceive themselves as equally assessed by the instructors, and many free-text proposals are related to the contents of the flight training programs. The outcome differences between Survey 1 (in 2012) and Survey 2 (in 2013) indicate that the attitudes to safety matters have changed slightly in a positive direction. It is my conclusion that a safety culture analysis can identify system properties that may induce gaps between procedure and practice, and, based on the same results, that organizational interventions can change attitudes and thereby provide prerequisites to bridge such gaps.