Industry Day - November 2024

Industry Day - November 2024

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Representatives from Across New Zealand's Aviation Sectors Unite for SM ICG Industry Day in Wellington

On November 5, 2024, the Safety Management International Collaboration Group (SM ICG), comprising 19 aviation regulatory bodies, hosted an Industry Day event in Wellington, New Zealand. The event's theme, Safety Intelligence: Using Safety Data to Inform Decision Making & Reflecting on Our Systems, featured presentations from ten aviation professionals across various sectors. These speakers shared valuable insights, challenges, successes, and lessons learned from their work with safety data and Safety Management Systems (SMS). The event was attended by 21 SM ICG members and observers from 11 Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs), alongside 90 industry participants representing the spectrum of aviation domains.  

Founded in 2009, the SM ICG was created to promote a common understanding of safety management principles and requirements, facilitating their application across the international aviation community. One of the ways they accomplish this objective is by collaborating on safety management topics of interest and publishing products on SKYbrary. These resources serve as valuable tools for both aviation regulators and industry professionals.

In 2012, the SM ICG launched Industry Day events during their bi-annual meetings to strengthen engagement with aviation service providers in the host country. These full-day sessions offer industry participants the opportunity to speak directly with global aviation authorities, while also providing a platform for authorities to gather feedback on SM ICG products and identify emerging topics of interest to the aviation community.  

Adrian Duncan, Manager Certification Organizations at the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAANZ), kicked off Industry Day by welcoming the SM ICG members and industry participants. He introduced Bernard Bourdon from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the 2024  SM ICG Chair. Mr. Bourdon thanked CAANZ for hosting the event and talked about the role of the  SM ICG and its purpose, highlighting recent publications and those that will be released shortly. He emphasized the importance of Safety Management in the changing aviation world. He encouraged participants to not only use the existing SM ICG products but to provide feedback as to the types of products that they would find useful in the future.  

David Harrison, Deputy Chief Executive for Aviation Safety at CAANZ, echoed Mr. Bourdon’s views on the critical importance of Safety Management in an increasingly uncertain world, highlighting the role of emerging technologies and the data they generate. He noted that CAANZ has used SM ICG products since they started their SMS journey and have promoted them throughout the New Zealand aviation industry. He said, “There is no doubt that SMS is a journey to maturity globally in aviation.”   

Mr. Harrison expressed his gratitude to the industry for their participation in the event. He remarked that it was particularly noteworthy that, despite New Zealand's small size, representatives from a wide range of sectors—spanning from the smallest to the largest organizations—were present. He highlighted that “SMS is not about a manual on the shelf but is about people committing to the safety goal.”  

Throughout the day, presentations were given by David Morgan (Air New Zealand), Mark Hughes (Air New Zealand), Jeremy Booth (Skydive Queenstown), Kim Nichols (Airways New Zealand), Dylan Robinson (NZ Air Ambulance Service), Marina Kunz (Air New Zealand), Tim Bradding (Airways New Zealand), Squadron Leader David Bacon (Defence Aviation Safety Bureau), Squadron Leader Nathan Barrack (Royal New Zealand Air Force), and Charlotte Brogan (CAANZ). The speaker biographies, presentation abstracts, and presentation slides are available for download on the SM ICG SKYbrary site.  

Although the focus of each presentation and experiences shared throughout the day spanned a wide range of topical areas, several key themes emerged. One reoccurring theme centered on collaboration—within organizations, amongst industry organizations, and between the regulator and the regulated. Captain David Morgan from Air New Zealand brought up the idea of “borrow with pride” which was then reaffirmed in numerous other presentations. The concept hinges on the open sharing of information and materials within the safety management community. An example of the importance of collaboration was brought home by Charlotte Brogan, Senior Intervention Analyst for CAANZ, as she described the details and the success of the “Work Together, Stay Apart” campaign aimed at reducing airborne conflict events at unattended aerodromes. She said that at the heart of this data-informed campaign was collaboration with industry.  

Marina Kunz from Air New Zealand shared a quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that summarized the next theme: “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” She emphasized the importance of simplifying SMS, noting that we can become so busy managing the complexity of our SMS that there is less time to focus on safety. She added that a simplified SMS is not a compromised one.  

While the importance of data and using it to improve and make better informed decisions was an integral theme to all presentations, there was also a consensus that we need to be careful not to rely solely or too heavily on the data. Jeremy Booth from Skydive Queenstown said, “You need to be careful of the data as it is easy to get the wrong picture and start chasing down the wrong thing.” 

Similarly, the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) came up throughout the day in presentations and audience questions, highlighting its prominence on everyone's minds. Discussions focused on AI's potential to enhance safety as well as its associated security concerns. Mr. Booth shared that his organization has begun exploring how AI can analyze large amounts of data and identify trends but noted that they are also mindful of the security implications of using AI.

Safety Culture and in particular, Just Culture, was weaved into all presentations. Trust is essential to an effective SMS. Employees must feel comfortable reporting issues without fear of repercussions. The people part of the system is crucial. As Tim Bradding from Airways New Zealand said, “Those closest to the problem are closest to the solution.”

Bernard Bourdon closed the meeting by thanking CAANZ for hosting the impressive event. He noted that the maturity of the New Zealand aviation industry is impressive, with the same mentality and same understanding of SMS within a skydiving company as a national airline. He thanked everyone for participating in the event and closed the meeting.

 


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The SM ICG, a group of 19 aviation regulatory bodies, was established in 2009. Since its formation, the group has produced over 30 products and has begun to focus more on outreach to the greater international aviation community. To that end, the SM ICG holds Industry Day events during its semi-annual meetings. Read more about other SM ICG Industry Day events.

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