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Cleared for take-off? IOGP updates Airline Safety Assessment Mechanism

There are more than 1,000 airlines flying scheduled operations.  Cumulatively, they are responsible for more than 30 million flights each year.  The question is:  how safe are they?

The latest version of IOGP’s Airline Safety Assessment Mechanism helps the Association’s member companies to find out for themselves.

On a distance-flown basis, air travel has become one of the safest forms of travel.  ‘Statistically, the chance of being involved in an accident with a scheduled airline is small – less than one per 100,000 flights – and the chance of being fatally or seriously injured is an order less than this at around 1.3  per million flights,’ the publication says.

But as the document goes on to say, it is the accident rate per flight that is of most concern, particularly for frequent travellers, such as those in the upstream oil and gas industry.  Such air journeys on business often involve multi-sector flights around the world.

Those undertaking such trips understandably want confidence in a safe arrival for every take off.  So do their employers – IOGP’s member companies – for whom the well-being of staff and contractors alike is a genuine business consideration as well as moral concern.

As the document recognizes, ‘airline safety varies widely around the world by airline as well as by the aircraft types used.’  One way to help determine the safety of a particular airline is to conduct a desk-top risk assessment, using a safety grading mechanism based on data readily available for commercial airlines.

The IOGP safety assessment mechanism provides precisely that.  It was formulated through a series of workshops that included IOGP Aviation Subcommittee members as well as participants representing airlines, independent consultants, the telecommunication industry, broadcast media and an international funding agency.

The new report and its associated spreadsheet provide a framework for companies to carry out their own investigations, based on  ‘rational and structured safety assessment of a scheduled commercial airline.’  IOGP does no airline assessments itself.

Click here to download a copy of the mechanism and associated worksheet.

 

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