16 May 2023
Chasing the Compliance Dream
Having attended Air New Zealand’s Board Safety Committee meetings as General Counsel for over 20 years and being responsible for the airline’s insurance programme, John Blair discusses the benefits of new technology over the traditional, quarterly paper reports that informed the Committee about past events.
Let’s start with the bold assumption that ‘better compliance means a safer operation’. In the complex world of aviation, compliance needs are everywhere. Most obvious is the national government appointed regulator, but beyond that there are internal policies and processes to consider: Safety Management Systems; Health and Safety policies; Staff Training requirements; Engineering and Maintenance Schedules; Asset Management; Operational Flight Plans; IOSA reporting and many more.
Being ‘compliant’ covers a multitude of requirements depending on multiple systems, from old-school pen and paper to a range of highly sophisticated software solutions. The challenges are many; just keeping track of everything takes a team and substantial time. How current is the information, is the information complete?
Can we ever be fully compliant?
Are we making our data really work for us? If not, which are the areas not in compliance and how far astray are we? The ‘dream’ of accessible answers to these key questions lies in a new approach to technology. Current systems gather data from multiple sources to create reports and documents which will be out of date, even by the time they are sent. New software enables all the key data from multiple sources to be input to one system and viewed in real time by anyone (if authorised) at any time. Dashboards and other reports are automatically and continually created and updated as new data is added. Decisions – often safety critical – can be made based on accurate data, not data that was accurate a month ago.Being ‘compliant’ covers a multitude of requirements depending on multiple systems, from old-school pen and paper to a range of highly sophisticated software solutions. The challenges are many; just keeping track of everything takes a team and substantial time. How current is the information, is the information complete?
A key benefit of this approach is that the operator can allow regulators access to their systems. Applications no longer need to be read and checked multiple times.
Regulators can look at your application document in your system with their required changes tracked and recorded, before issuing the approval into your system. A fantasy? This is already happening in New Zealand with OneReg (saas) receiving enthusiastic support from our New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority – and other aviation regulators are engaging with interest.
Not just regulators – the safety manager, the CFO, CEO and the Board Safety Committee members –can view real data on current levels of compliance at any time. The same ability extends to other third parties such as insurance brokers and underwriters or aircraft lessors interested in real time tracking of safety and compliance data relevant to their interests. This may sound terrifying for those responsible for compliance, but it shouldn’t. Compliance is not a static concept in the fast-moving aviation world. Achieving 100% is possible when we can base more of our decisions and actions on real data rather than guesswork or out of date reports.
But that is just part of the story. Aviation operators and airports using OneReg are finding their compliance demands being met much more efficiently and reliably, at lower cost. They are operating with much more confidence that they are doing what they need to do to be as safe as they can.
As the aviation insurance industry knows so well, the unrelenting focus on compliance, risk management and maintaining safety as an embedded aspect of culture have all been part of the dramatic advances in aviation safety in the last thirty or more years. The more we can improve the quality, currency and timely analysis of our data, the more we can enhance that trend.
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