Just Culture – an important building block of safe operations
This page contains decision-making charts that organisations can use to improve the inclusion of Just Culture in their safety management. The box below contains two decision-making charts from different perspectives. Below them, there are examples of decision-making and processing of occurrence reports and events in imaginary organisations (airline, ground handling company and provider of air navigation services).
Just culture perspective: decision-making charts supporting organisations’ safety management
The charts below have been adapted from the publication “GAIN working group - Roadmap to a Just Culture - Enhancing the Safety Environment” (1997).The chart was modified on the basis of authorisation given byGlobal Aviation Information Network in the document in question (“Derived from a document for which permission to reprint was given by the Global Aviation Information Network”).
Decision-making chart – Just Culture
The chart can be utilised in situations where the possibility of deliberateness or gross negligence in misconduct endangering or potentially endangering safety must be verified.
Decision-making chart – Just Culture as part of safety management (SMS)
The chart depicts the principles of processing occurrences in aviation in an organisation so that Just Culture is included in the safety management system (SMS). The chart focuses on utilising safety information produced by personnel in ensuring and improving safety.
Examples of using the decision-making chart “Just Culture as part of safety management
Each example depicts a situation that has led to the occurrence report filed by the employee(s) involved in the incident and the processing of the occurrence in the organisation. Both the organisation and the event and related examples are fictitious. However, they represent realistic situations and operations models. There are three different approaches to processing each event: CASE GREEN, CASE GREY and CASE RED. You can find a more detailed definition for each approach below.
Example: flight operations
The examples below (CASE GREEN, GREY and RED) concern the same imaginary event in the same imaginary airline with the same basic information. The examples differ by how the organisation processed the event as part of its safety management. These differences lead to three different outcomes for both the persons involved in the event and the organisation.
Example: ground handling
The examples below (CASE GREEN, GREY and RED) concern the same imaginary event in the same imaginary ground handling company with the same basic information. The examples differ by how the organisation processed the event as part of its safety management. These differences lead to three different outcomes for both the persons involved in the event and the organisation.