Safety first says CAF

THE focus on safety is not being lost on CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston after the successful and accident-free deployments of the past 12 months.

AIRMSHL Houston emphasised this in his address to the Safeskies 2003 conference, where he said that effective use of risk management ensured the best chances of mission success and survival.

“Just over one year ago, we were involved in our biggest peacetime aeromedical evacuation following the bombings in Bali,” AIRMSHL Houston said.

“Less than 10 hours after the bombings occurred, our aircrew, aircraft and AME teams were on their way to Bali to commence a mass-casualty evacuation. People and equipment were pushed to their limits – emotionally and physically.

“The task was completed successfully and I have no doubt that the rapid response of our people saved lives.

“Again, risk management and safety were fundamental to mission success. In particular, crew resource management and enlightened command supervision were key factors.

“Our maintenance and support people have shown great dedication with very high levels of aircraft availability. But we have not lost our focus on safety.”

He said that environmental, airspace and operational factors had been carefully considered in Air Force’s approach to managing risk. The application of crew resource management had enhanced mission effectiveness and the safety of operations.

“We need to learn from our mistakes, we need to encourage open and honest reporting, we need our people to feel confident that we will support them,” AIRMSHL Houston said.

“We owe it to our people, to their families, to the government, to the people of Australia.
“The least we can do is make it our number one priority to ensure we protect the lives of our own men and women.”

To that end, aviation risk management practices were put to the test during Operations Bastille and Falconer in the Middle East.

“F/A-18 operations in the Middle East presented some genuine challenges. We were flying a range of different missions – defensive counter air, close air support, battlefield interdiction and strike. We also had to factor in familiarisation flying and continuation training when we first arrived in theatre,” AIRMSHL Houston said.

“For all our operations in the Middle East, a thorough risk management assessment was undertaken, with a range of risks considered. Some of those risks had a greater probability of occurring than others, some had a much higher risk rating than others – mitigating strategies were considered for all the risks.

“Having a good aviation risk management plan won’t give us all the answers. What it will do, is ensure that we give our people and our aircraft the best chances of success and survival in any situation.”

For further information regarding risk management contact RAAF Risk Management Coordinator Dr Robert McGregor on (02) 6265 2642, or Director of Enterprise Risk Management Roger FitzGerald on (02) 6265 5340.

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