# COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION

TITLE: THE CAF SAFETY

MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM

CAF GUIDE #11

EFFECTIVE DATE: AUGUST 2012

APPROVAL: PRESIDENT2 

### THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANKCAF OFFICIAL PUBLICATION

CAF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AUGUST 2012

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### PUBLICATIONS MANAGEMENT

1. PURPOSE

This guide was created to assist Unit Staff Officers and volunteers in performing their duties.

2. Who Should Use this guide?

This Guide should be used by all cu rrent CAF Members and Unit Staff Officers.



### 3. Changes:

This is your organization. Any CAF Member, Unit Staff Offi cer or employee may recommend changes to any CAF pub lication. Recommendation s may be submitted in any format; however, the specific document must be identified by number, title and da te. The office of primary responsibility will evaluate recomm endations within thirty (30) da ys and the individual or Unit

will be notified of action taken.

-------------------------------------- No. of Printed Pages - 7

OPR: Vice President of Safe ty Maintenance and Operations Approved by: President

Distribution: All Un it Staff Officers, CAF me mbers upon request and Headquarters Staff as required.CAF OFFICIAL PUBLIC ATION AUGUST 2012

CAF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

3 INTRODUCTION

The Commemorative Air Force Safety Program wa s built upon the pillars of Safety Management Systems (SMS), before SMS became the standa rd for aviation safety programs. SMS models have matured with significant tools to improve management of risk as an ongoing business objective. However, most were created for or ganizations of significant size with full time employees and require a lot of paperwork which pr ovide little benefit in our organization. We are operating with common structures and standards of Aviation Safety Management Systems, but have not restructured our programs just to make them look like one of the models. This guide is a simple explanation of our safety program and how it functions as a safety system.

HISTORY

The Commemorative Air Force Safety Progra m was an activity of several boards and

committees subordinate to the Board of Direct ors until 2005 and focused primarily on Flight Safety and Operational issues. Early that year, the Board authorized a full time staff position to administrate many of the safety and operational programs with ove rsight and direction from the Executive Director, Flight Safety Board and th e Operations and Standardization committees ( Safety Assurance ).

At that time we had regulations for flying and ma intaining our airplanes, standardization of pilot qualifications and reviews of accidents with follow-on changes to policies when warranted ( Risk Management ). The members of the committees and th e Board of Directors published safety articles in company periodicals and conduc ted seminars at semi-annual conferences ( Safety

Promotion ). An anonymous safety reporting system wa s put in place; the Executive Director issued a Safety Policy Letter and announced the ne w Director of Operati ons and Safety position on the staff (Management Commitment and Responsibility).

The new Director was tasked to evaluate ex isting programs and compare them with other programs in the industry and make recommendati ons for improvements. The large companies in the industry were re-inventing thei r safety programs to fit the framework of Safety Management Systems, which were relatively new adaptations of the Quality Management Systems in the safety arena. This move in the industry was further strengthened by the FAA AC 120-92 and their desire to align with the ICAO SMS re quirements. Many businesses sprang up and exist today to “Teach and Sell” SMS programs to aviation operators.CAF OFFICIAL PUBLIC ATION AUGUST 2012

CAF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

4 Each of these programs has something to call thei r own, but certain elements are consistent and include four pillars as the foundation of their system:

1. Policy/Management Commitment Responsibilities

2. Risk Management

3. Safety Assurance

4. Safety Promotion/Culture

Our program contained these elements, so there was no need to re-invent our program on paper to simply fit a specific framework and label. Instead, the decision was made to spend initial energies on executing refinements to our “P illars” and pull everyone together for a culture shift. These efforts contributed to the second longest accident free record in our 50 year history, second only to the period at the end of the 1970s.

Early in 2011 some of our members and units ma de special contributions to take our safety program to the next level. The donations were fo r the purpose of hiring he lp to increase focus, reenergize and frame our program using current SMS terms and tools when benefit could be added. In late 2011 the new position was established and filled: The Director of Operations and

Chief Pilot. In addition to increased a ttention on our pilots and their training ( the key link in flight safety ), the new position made it possible for the VP of Operations, Maintenance and Safety to work as The VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operat ions (a subtle, but significant realignment of duties). In the course of establishing Organiza tional Key Strategic Ini tiatives (KSIs) for 2012, safety initiatives were interwoven into these special interest items. A significant one was for the VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operations to repeat the 2005 evaluation of the CAF Safety program and consider possible be nefits of a formal SMS (i.e. look like and use tools of a SMS model).

EVALUATION OF SMS MODELS/TOOLS

Although our program contained the elements c onsistent with SMSs, it was hoped defining our safety programs in SMS context and adapting to a model would reduce our risk. Additionally, we felt it was expected in the current environment (government and industry). In December of 2011 we started the process of evaluating different models with the goal of finding one with a framework our program would fit within. The fo cus was taking advantage of benefits provided by SMS models/tools with a critical filter to minimize unnecessary paperwork and administration (a common SMS principle).

We made the decision to use materials develope d by the FAA and volunteered to enter their SMS Pilot Project Program (the FAA program is repr esentative of other sources and programs). The

FAA offices involved in the s upport of voluntary/pilot programs are among those who will do the rule writing if SMSs become mandatory in the future. This was important for confidence the resources expended in our program development would not be wasted and the products would slide into compliance when the programs are required.CAF OFFICIAL PUBLIC ATION AUGUST 2012

CAF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

5 When we started the process of comparing our current program(s) with the FAA model, we confirmed our day-to-day management practices covered the bases. The next step was to evaluate the tools and follow suggested tasks thru each of the program milestones. This started with what is called Gap Analysis and there are two phases, the Preliminary and the Detailed Gap Analysis. After many hours of tool modification and circulation among our safety committees and working groups, it was unanimous we were heading into a pape rwork abyss without a discernible reduction in risk. The gap analys is by the committees and working groups was suspended. The feedback on this exercise formed the criteria for evaluati ng the potential of other

tools in the FAA model and some others. The deci sion was made the majority of tools would not directly reduce our risk when compared to current processes, intuitive as they may be, used by our staff, committees and working groups.

The bottom line was our programs were in line w ith SMS models, our tools worked for us and

most of the tools in the models were too administratively burdensome for our organization of

volunteers and limited staff. However, our programs lacked identity with SMS terms and industry focus. This guide is the bridge to explain what we do in the terms of Safety Management System Models.

OUR SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

It is important to note, when most people talk ab out safety in our industry, they are talking about flight safety. Flying certainly scores the highest in any risk assessment of what we do, but it isn’t the only area we have risk. There are significant risks that need Mitigation/Management in each area of our operations:

‐ Flight Safety

‐ Flight line Safety

‐ Ground/Industrial Safety

‐ Explosive Safety

‐ Annual Midland AIRSHO Safety

The following summary of our programs is separated by common SMS components and elements. The format is simple: under each SMS area is an expl anation/listing of our management processes (regulations and guideli nes) which when combined, are our system. If there are different processes for the different areas above, they wi ll all be listed. All of the

documents are available online at the CAF Member’s site.

Policy and Objectives Management Commitment/Res ponsibility/Accountabilities

x President/CEO’s Safety Policy Letter (Member’s site: Safety Button)

x Safety Office is at the Vice President le vel, reporting directly to President/CEO

x Organizational history of management in itiatives (see Histor y paragraph above)CAF OFFICIAL PUBLIC ATION AUGUST 2012

CAF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

6 Appointment of Key Safety Personnel

x Unit Safety Officers are mandatory (Unit manual section 2 membe r’s site: manuals button)

x Safety Committees established and members contact information published for all areas (Member’s site: Safety Button)

x Unit Flight Evaluation Boards for Fit-to-Fly determinations (Member’s site: Regulations Button- CAFR 60-2)

Coordination of Emergency Response Planning

x HQ. Aircraft Accident Response Checklist (Member’s site: Safety Button)

x HQ Post accident Support Team (Member’s site: Safety Button)

x AIRSHO Emergency Plan (Member’s site: Safety Button)

x Aircraft Accident Repor ting procedures for pilots (Member’s site: Regulations Button- CAFR 60-1)

Risk Management

Hazard identification

x Anonymous Flight Safety/Ground Hazard Reporting program (Member’s site: Safety Button- Safety Reporting System)

x Contact information for VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operations published in regulations, on the CAF Open Web site, in Flight Safety Newsletters and all electronic correspondence

NOTE : History has shown the direct reporting to the VP is the preferred reporting process in the CAF and is very active

x Contact Information for Safety Committee Members (Member’s site: Safety Button)

x Aircraft Mishap Report Form 60-3 (curren tly called Incident Accident Report) (Member’s site: Safety Button)

x Ground Safety Mishap report (Member’s site: Safety Button)

Risk Assessment and Mitigation

x Risk assessment of day to day operations a nd analysis of reported risk are evaluated by the VP of Safety, Maintenance and Op erations, the CAF Staff and the Safety Committees. Mitigations are implemented specif ically to the risk, or are incorporated into CAF policies and procedures.

x Policies and procedures

x CAF Regulations and Manuals (Member’s site: Regulations and Manuals Buttons)

CAFR 60-1 Procedures for Flight OperationsCAF OFFICIAL PUBLIC ATION AUGUST 2012

CAF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

7 CAFR 60-2 Procedures for Aircrew Qualifications and Documentation

CAFR 60-3 Carrying of Passengers for Compensation

CAFR 66-1 Aircraft Maintena nce Policies and Procedures

x CAF Guides and Specialty Documents (Member’s site: Safety Button) CAF Safety Policy Letter from the President/CEO The Commemorative Air Force Safety Management System Guide The CAF Anonymous Flight Safety/Ground Hazard Reporting Safety Guidelines for CAF Pyro Units Marshaller’s Training Manual and guides HQ Ground/Industrial Safety Guide

Safety Assurance Performance Monitoring /Measurement and Ma nagement of Change for Improvement

x All reports of hazards/risk/mishaps are evaluated by the VP, briefed to the President/CEO and Staff and sent to the appropriate committee if existing procedures/policies need review

x The VP, or a member of the Flight safe ty Committee are appoint ed as Parties to

FAA/NTSB aircraft acc ident investigations

x Annual summaries of incidents and accide nts are presented at the Wing Staff Conference, published in newsletters and analyzed by the committees

x Special/one of a kind/very low frequency risk are evaluated and mitigated on a case by case basis either by staff, or the committees

x Common/and likely risk are controlled wi th published procedures which undergo

review and modification if required, twice a year

x Special interest items in th e interim are emailed to all pilots and unit officers as

necessary

Safety Promotion/Culture Training and Education

x We have training requirements for our pilots in the 60 series regulations and both the Director of Operations/Chief Pilot and the VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operations conduct in unit pilot training (Member’s site: Regulations Button)

x There are training guides and procedure re quirements for Explosive Safety (PYRO), Flight Line Safety (Marshalle rs) and Industrial/Ground Safety (Member’s site: Safety Button)

Communication

x The President/CEO publishes an Organizational Safety Policy letter

x Monthly Newsletters are published for Operations, Maintenance and Safety

x Safety and policy news and updates are pub lished in the bi-weekly “On the Fly” newsletter and in the monthly Na tional Publication “Dispatch”

End of Guide