The forthcoming EASA regulatory requirement 145.A.62 ‘Internal Safety Reporting Scheme’ (NPA 2013-01) introduces a separate provision to strengthen the development and implementation of a confidential internal safety reporting scheme as part of the Organization’s ‘safety information system’ to help the organisation foster its safety culture.
A strong safety culture is an essential ingredient for effective safety management. A detailed understanding of the effectiveness of the MEMS system is built on the understanding that an Aviation Incident or accident is typically the culmination of a chain of events, moreover, If we are able to remove one or more of the links then is may often be enough to actually prevent the error.
One of the biggest challenges the organization faces is to take control of its safety culture, this process is built on a foundation of trust and can be easily damaged by in effective process management.
To fully deliver compliance with the provision of ICAO SARPS in particular annex 19, the system has to look beyond the reactive elements, means to capture safety hazards as well as to capture reactive safety information following from errors, near-misses or other undesirable events (occurrences). If we can encourage people to report also “nearly” Incidents and accidents we can become proactive and avoid such in the first place.
A Maintenance Error Management System may be either stand alone process or become a component of your organizational SMS. Typically an integrated process whereby the MEMS is embedded in terms of both culture and process will deliver the most positive outcomes.
Typically the knowledge and competency required to work within the MEMS environment will be found in both the Quality Department and Maintenance Management Departments. A thorough understanding of the MEMS processes will also be of benefit to both Civil Aviation Authorities and persons involved in Accident Investigation.
Other persons who will find benefit from MEMS awareness include Human Factors Trainers, Safety Personal and persons who are developing and implementing Aircraft Maintenance Programs
Effective MEMS should aim to deliver positive changes based on the implementation of the HF principles which we consider during our initial and recurrent training, which are then applied in a real and tangible way with the workplace environment.
A starting point when building your organisations MEMS system is to acquire a detailed understanding of Maintenance Errors, why they happen, what we have to do to be able to manage our maintenance processes and how to implement “Positive Change” and how to enable an “OPEN” reporting culture.
Sofema Aviation Services offers 2 & 3 Day MEMS training courses based around the use of the Boeing MEDA process.
Tags:
Aviation Safety, Maintenance Error Management System, Maintenance Errors, MEMS, Sofema Aviation Services
