IHST Global Safety Survey Results - ihsf.aeroihsf.aero/Repository/2016 IHST Global Survey...

IHSTGlobalSafetySurveyResultsThispaperreportstheresultsandconclusionsthatmaybedrawnfromtheInternationalHelicopterSafetyTeam’s(IHST)second,globalsafetysurvey.Repeatingtheprocessdonein2015,theIHSThas,throughout2016,promotedasurveytojudgeawarenessanduseofitsproducts.InadditiontopromotingtheIHST’swork,thesurveyisintendedtomeasurehowbroadlytheIHST’skeyrecommendationsarebeingimplemented.Overtime,theIHSThopestocorrelatethesurveyresultswithaccidentdatatoseeiftheserecommendationsandtheirsupportingproductsareontargettowardtheIHST’svisionofzeroaccidents.Whereastherewere351responsestothesurveyfrom53differentcountriesin2015,the2016surveyhad340responsesfrom44differentcountries.Further,only25ofthosewhoparticipatedinthe2015surveyupdatedtheirinputsfor2016.Hence,thetwosurveyreportsdonot,aswashoped,showagrowingbaseofannualstatusreportsfromhelicopterindustrystakeholdersontheirimplementationofthekeybestpracticesrecommendedbytheIHST.Nevertheless,aswillbeshown,therearesomeimportantconclusionsthatcanbedrawnfromthisyear’ssurvey,whichreinforcetheresultsofthe2015survey.TheIHST’sregionalteamshaveanalyzedover1,000helicopteraccidentsandconcludedthatthefollowingfourareasofferthebestopportunitiestopreventhelicopteraccidents:

1. SafetyManagementSystems(SMS)2. Structuredprogramsforinitialandrecurrenttraining3. Mission-specificsystemsandequipment,including:

a. Health&usagemonitoringsystems(HUMS)b. Flightdatamonitoring(FDM)programsc. Nightvisiongogglesd. Wirestrikeprotection

4. Structuredprogramstofullycomplywithmanufacturers’recommendedmaintenancepractices

TheIHSTandmanyotherindustrystakeholdergroupsareactivelypromotingimplementationofthesepractices.TheIHST’sglobalsafetysurveyisintendedtoassesstheprogresstowardfullimplementationofthesepracticeswithineachindustrysectorineveryregion.Whilesomeoftherecommendedsystemsandequipmenthavemissionspecificapplication,theotherrecommendationsforSMS,trainingandmaintenancepracticesareuniversallyapplicable.Thefigurebelowshowsthesurveyresultsfromthecountrieswiththemostresponses.Acompletelistofthe“CountryofOperation”givenbysurveyparticipantsisatAppendix1.Inbothsurveysconductedsofar,theresponsesbycountrygenerallyfallinlinewiththenumberofhelicoptersinthosecountries.

Wemustadmitthataftertwoyearsthetotalnumberofsurveyparticipantsisstillasmallsampleforthemorethan35,000civilhelicoptersintheworld.Wedonotproposethattheseresultsarearepresentativesample.TheseresultsmayinfactrepresentthebestoperatorsinthecivilhelicopterindustrywhowerewillingtostatetheirpositionswithregardtotheIHST’swork.Nevertheless,theseresultsdogiveindicationsofwhichoftheIHST’stopsafetyrecommendationsaregainingthebroadestacceptance.Asstatedlastyear,wemustacknowledgethattheIHST’stopsafetyrecommendationsmaybegettingimplementedforreasonsotherthantheIHSTitself.Forexample,SMSimplementation,whichhasthehighestoverallimplementationrateofalltheIHST’stoprecommendations,isgenerallyhighestincountrieswhereSMShasbeenmandatedthelongest;e.g.,theUKandotherEuropeancountriesgovernedbyEASA.Thechartbelowshowsthatthistrend,establishedin2015,wassustainedin2016.So,thefirstconclusiontobeproposedinthisreportisthatregulatorysupportisveryeffective.Whilevoluntaryadoptionofbestpracticescanproceedmorequickly,changinganindustryculturetoembracebestpracticescantakealongtimeunlessthereisstrongregulatorysupport.

Whenwesorttheresultsbystakeholdergroupororganizationtype,weseeagainthisyearthatoperationsdrivenbycustomerrequirementshadthehighestlevelofSMSimplementation.

Weseerelatedresultsinthechartbelow,wherewesorttheresultsbytheusestowhichtherespondentsputtheirhelicopters,andfindtheoffshoreoil&gasindustryleadingthewaywithSMSimplementation.Theoil&gasindustrypracticesaredrivenbycustomerrequirementsbecausethatindustry’soperationsvitallydependontheconfidenceofoffshoreworkersintheirmeansofgettingtowork.TheInternationalAssociationofOil&GasProducers(IOGP)havedocumentedtheirrecommendedpractices,whicharedefactoindustrystandards,intheirAircraftManagementGuidelines,whichareavailableforfreedownloadathttp://www.iogp.org/Reports/Type/390/ID/475.TheIHSTSMStoolkits,availableforfreedownloadathttp://www.ihst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3053&language=en-US,offerguidanceforalltypesofhelicopteroperations..

Asstatedinlastyear’sreport,structuredprogramsforinitialandrecurrenttraining,oftencompetencebased,aremoreprevalentamongsttheglobaloperatorssupportingtheoil&gasindustry.TheaforementionedIOGPAircraftManagementGuidelinesincludeadescriptionofcompetencybasedtrainingprograms.TheIHST’sfreetrainingtoolkit,basedonlessonslearnedfromaccidentanalyses,(http://www.ihst.org/portals/54/2009_Training_Toolkit_Final.pdf)offersguidanceforallhelicopteroperatorstodevelopandmaintaineffectivetrainingprograms.

Thechartsbelowshowthesurveyresultsfortrainingbytypeofoperationandthenbyuse.

Asseenin2015,theuseofhealth&usagemonitoringsystems(HUMS)isstillrelativelyloweverywhere.

Whenwesortthoseresultsbystakeholdergroup(organizationtype)wefindtheinterestingresultthatnoneofthesixsurveyparticipantsfromthemaintenanceandserviceindustrysectorsaidtheyuseHUMS.ThreeofthesixsurveyparticipantswerefromCanada,theUSAandMexico–twowerefromEuropeandonefromRussia.Thoughsixishardlyastatisticallysignificantsamplingofthemanycompaniesinthehelicoptermaintenanceandservicebusiness,itissurprisingtoseethatnoneofthosewhorespondedtothissurveyuseHUMS.ExperienceincompaniesthatdouseHUMSasanintegralpartoftheirmaintenanceprogramsshowsthatthesesixsurveyrespondentsappeartobemissingoutonawell-establishedbestpracticeformaintenance.TolearnmoreabouthowtoimplementHUMS,seetheIHSTmaintenancetoolkitandtheHUMStoolkitavailableforfreedownloadathttp://www.ihst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3050&language=en-US.

Whenwesorttheresultsbyhelicopteruse,wefindthehighestlevelsofHUMSimplementationinoffshorewheretheoil&gasindustrysponsoredHUMSdevelopmentinthelate90sandmanyoil&gascompanieshaverequireditformorethan10years.

Turningtotheuseofflightdatamonitoringprograms,wealsofindrelativelylowimplementation.

Perhapsmanyoperatorsareunawareofthelow-costtechnologiesavailableforFDM.AlistofsuchresourcesisgiveninAppendixBoftheIHST’sFDMtoolkit,availableforfreedownloadathttp://www.ihst.org/portals/54/2011HFDM.pdf.

Asseenin2015,theoffshoreindustryhasthehighestlevelofFDMimplementation.

Theuseofstructuredprogramstofullycomplywithmanufacturers’recommendedmaintenancepracticesismorewidespreadthantheuseofHUMSorFDM,butnotnearlyuniversalasitshouldbe.

Here’stheuseofstructuredmaintenanceprogramswhensortingtheresponsesbyhelicopteruse.Thoseusinghelicoptersforpersonal/privateor“other”havethemosttogain.TheIHST’sfreemaintenancetoolkitshowshowhttp://www.ihst.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=uhdMiyXCSCE=&tabid=1507&language=en-US.

Whenwerollupresultsintoasingle,aggregatemeasureoftheimplementationoftheIHST’skeyrecommendedpractices,weseesimilarresultsaslastyear.

Whenwesorttheseresultsbytypeofoperation,weseethatoffshoreoperationsdrivenbyoil&gascustomerrequirementshadthehighestlevelofimplementation

oftheIHST’skeyrecommendations,whilethoseusinghelicoptersforpersonal/privateor“other”purposeshadthelowest.

Asseeninlastyear’ssurveyresults,privateoperatorsusinghelicoptersforpersonalusehavethelowestlevelofimplementationoftheIHST’srecommendations.ThisresultscorrelateswiththeIHST’sanalysisshowingthatthepersonal/privateoperatorshavehighaccidentrates.Hence,theseoperatorshavethemosttogainfromimplementingtheIHST’skeyrecommendations.Conversely,theresultsshowthatimplementationishighestinthegroupswiththelowestaccidentrates,particularlytheoffshorehelicopteroperators.So,althoughcorrelationdoesnotnecessarilymeancausation,itappearsclearthattheIHST’skeyrecommendationsareveryeffectiveinpreventinghelicopteraccidents.Anotherconclusionthatmaybedrawnfromthiscorrelationisthatcustomerawarenessofandinsistenceontheuseofbestpracticesforsafetycanbeasimportantasregulatorysupport.ThechallengeforthosewhosharetheIHSTvisionofzeroaccidentsistoengageallthosewhousehelicoptersinreviewingtheoverwhelmingevidenceforthesebestpractices:

1. SafetyManagementSystems(SMS)2. Structuredprogramsforinitialandrecurrenttraining3. Mission-specificsystemsandequipment,including:

a. Health&usagemonitoringsystems(HUMS)

b. Flightdatamonitoring(FDM)programsc. Nightvisiongogglesd. Wirestrikeprotection

4. Structuredprogramstofullycomplywithmanufacturers’recommendedmaintenancepractices

TheIHSTExecutiveCommitteehascommittedtoredoubleitseffortstogetparticipationinarepeatofthissurveyin2017.Ifyoucompletedthesurveyin2015,2016orbothyears,pleasedosoagainin2017sothatwecanbuildagrowingbaseofannualstatusreportsfromhelicopterindustrystakeholdersontheirimplementationofthekeybestpracticesrecommendedbytheIHST.LookforarelaunchoftheIHSTglobalsafetysurveyaroundthetimeofHelicopterAssociationInternational’s(HAI)Heli-Expo.Spreadtheword!

AppendixA“CountryofOperation”forSurveyParticipants