FG unveils safety policy statement in line with ICAO regulations

The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Sunday, unveiled the Nigeria’s State Safety Policy Statement expected to provide guidance to all stakeholders to ensure improvement in safety management and practices, including safety reporting within the civil aviation industry.

This had been done in compliance with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 19 on Safety Management, which was adopted by the ICAO Council on February 25, 2013. It however became effective on November 14, 2013.

The Chapter 3 of the Annex requires each Contracting state to establish a State Safety Programme (SSP) for the management of safety in that state.

This shall be done in order to achieve an Acceptable Level of Safety Performance (ALoSP) in civil aviation.

The requirement for a State Safety Programme (SSP) recognises that States as well as Service Providers have safety responsibilities.

The SSP therefore provides a framework within which service providers are required to establish a Safety Management System (SMS).

Part of the of the policy statement, which was signed by Muhtar Usman, director-general, NCAA, is that Nigeria shall develop national standards, general rulemaking and specific operational policies on safety management principles in line with Standards, Recommended Practices, Procedures of International Civil Aviation Organisation and also on a comprehensive analysis of Nigeria aviation systems.

Sam Adurogboye, acting general manager, public affairs of NCAA, said the policy must be understood, implemented and observed by all involved in activities related to the Nigeria’s SSP.

However, it shall adopt a data-driven and performance-based approach to safety regulation and industry oversight responsibilities where appropriate; conduct performance-based and compliance-oriented oversight activities within the aviation industry, supported by analysis and identification of safety trends, adopting a risk-based approach in the prioritisation of resource allocation to address areas of critical safety concern or need.

Part of Nigeria’s commitment is to also monitor and measure the realistic implementation of the safety performance of Nigerian aviation system through the State’s aggregate safety indicators as well as Service Providers’ safety performance indicators; collaborate, consult and interact effectively with Service Providers in the resolution of safety concerns and continuous enhancement of aviation safety and promote good safety practices and positive organisational culture within the industry, based on sound safety management principles.

That it shall also establish the provisions for the protection, collection, processing, analysis and exchange of safety information among all relevant industry organizations and Service Providers, with the intent that such information is to be used for safety management purposes only; allocate sufficient financial and human resources for safety management and oversight and equip staff with proper skills and expertise to discharge their safety oversight and management responsibilities competently.

That Nigeria shall develop and implement enforcement policy, which will ensure that information derived from the SSP Safety Data, Information Analysis and Exchange System or Service Providers’ SMS will not be used as a basis for enforcement action, except in the case of gross negligence and wilful deviation.