Learn what are the most effective safety performance indicators and targets for airside operations, and how to choose, set, monitor, report, and improve them.

Depends upon the question that the SPIs are designed to answer. Effective SPIs are linked to a question that senior leadership want answered. Key Performance Questions should be directly linked to the safety objectives, which in turn, are distilled from the Safety Policy. Simply selecting SPIs without context is largely meaningless

What are the most effective safety performance indicators for airside operations?

Airside operations are the activities that take place on the airport grounds, such as aircraft movement, ground handling, fueling, and maintenance. They are essential for the smooth functioning of the airport, but they also pose significant safety risks for the personnel, passengers, and property involved. Therefore, airport managers need to monitor and improve the safety performance of their airside operations by using relevant and reliable indicators and targets.

1 What are safety performance indicators?

Safety performance indicators (SPIs) are measurable and quantifiable variables that reflect the level of safety achieved or maintained in a specific area or process. They help airport managers to identify safety issues, evaluate the effectiveness of safety interventions, and communicate safety information to stakeholders. SPIs can be classified into two types: lagging and leading.

Lagging SPIs measure the outcomes or consequences of safety events, such as accidents, incidents, injuries, or damages. They indicate the historical performance of safety and the severity of safety problems. However, they do not provide much insight into the causes or prevention of safety events.

Leading SPIs measure the inputs or processes that influence safety, such as safety culture, training, audits, inspections, or reporting. They indicate the proactive performance of safety and the potential for safety improvement. However, they do not guarantee the achievement of safety outcomes or objectives.

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Andrew Llewellyn MRAeS

Aviation Manager / Safety Risk Specialist / Military Veteran
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Depends upon the question that the SPIs are designed to answer. Effective SPIs are linked to a question that senior leadership want answered. Key Performance Questions should be directly linked to the safety objectives, which in turn, are distilled from the Safety Policy. Simply selecting SPIs without context is largely meaningless

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Sigbert Dhas

"Great Partnerships are built on shared values" | @ Knowledge Expansion Energy & Utilities Industry
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Safety performance indicators (SPIs) play a vital role in maintaining and enhancing safety standards. Lagging SPIs provide a retrospective view of safety performance, serving as crucial lessons from past incidents. On the other hand, leading SPIs are essential as they allow organisations to proactively manage safety by addressing underlying issues before they escalate into incidents. Both types of SPIs, when used in tandem, create a comprehensive approach to safety management, reducing risks and fostering a safer environment for all stakeholders.

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2 How to choose effective SPIs for airside operations?

When selecting SPIs for airside operations, there are a few factors to consider, such as the scope, objectives, data availability, and stakeholder expectations of the airport management. However, there are some general criteria that can be used to guide the selection of SPIs. These include relevance – the SPIs should reflect the most important safety aspects of airside operations; reliability – the SPIs should be based on accurate and consistent data sources; representativeness – the SPIs should cover a sufficient sample of airside operations; responsiveness – the SPIs should be sensitive enough to detect changes in safety performance; and rationality – the SPIs should be logical and meaningful enough to explain and justify the safety performance.

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3 How to set safety performance targets for airside operations?

Safety performance targets are the desired or expected levels of safety performance that are defined and agreed by the airport management and its stakeholders. They help airport managers to evaluate the gap between the current and the desired safety performance, and to prioritize and allocate resources for safety improvement. Safety performance targets can be absolute or relative, depending on the nature and purpose of the SPIs.

Absolute targets are fixed or predetermined values that represent the minimum or maximum acceptable levels of safety performance, such as zero accidents, 100% compliance, or 90% satisfaction. They are suitable for lagging SPIs that measure the outcomes of safety events.

Relative targets are variable or dynamic values that represent the improvement or deterioration of safety performance over time, such as 10% reduction, 20% increase, or 5% variation. They are suitable for leading SPIs that measure the processes that influence safety.

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Nqobile Shamase

Station Manager for Southern African countries
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Zero tolerance to short cuts, do not compromise on safety. Reward employees for safety compliance. Open door policy to report hazards, including anonymous reporting platforms.

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4 How to monitor and report safety performance for airside operations?

Monitoring and reporting safety performance for airside operations involve collecting, analyzing, and communicating data and information related to the SPIs and targets. This helps airport managers to track and assess progress and results of safety performance, as well as identify and address any issues or opportunities for improvement. The steps for this process include defining the frequency, format, and method of data collection, applying statistical and graphical tools to analyze the data, comparing actual and target values of the SPIs, interpreting the findings of the data analysis, and communicating safety performance information to relevant stakeholders. This allows for a comprehensive assessment of safety performance by highlighting strengths, weaknesses, or risks.

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Nqobile Shamase

Station Manager for Southern African countries
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One thing I find very helpful is reporting system whereby targets for reporting are set for each employee/leaders. System reporting should speak to each department of the organization. Modernized system like reporting apps for smart phones works better as it allows employees to report harzards from the comfort of their own after work and suggestions on how to improve current situation really comes in handy. Health and Safety department to monitor the system and analyze major incidents to minor and report to management and Esco.

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5 How to improve safety performance for airside operations?

The ultimate goal of using SPIs and targets is to improve safety performance for airside operations. This process involves identifying and prioritizing safety issues or opportunities revealed by monitoring and reporting, developing and proposing solutions or recommendations, implementing and executing the solutions according to the agreed schedule, budget, and resources, evaluating and measuring the impact of the solutions or recommendations on safety performance, and reviewing and revising the SPIs and targets based on feedback and lessons learned.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are the most effective safety performance indicators for airside operations?

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1 What are safety performance indicators?

2 How to choose effective SPIs for airside operations?

3 How to set safety performance targets for airside operations?

4 How to monitor and report safety performance for airside operations?

5 How to improve safety performance for airside operations?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Airport Management

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What are the most effective safety performance indicators for airside operations?

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5

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1 What are safety performance indicators?

2 How to choose effective SPIs for airside operations?

3 How to set safety performance targets for airside operations?

4 How to monitor and report safety performance for airside operations?

5 How to improve safety performance for airside operations?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Airport Management

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