Background

You are feeling very proud of what you have achieved in your short time as FareGo airline's first Safety Manager. The introduction of the Dash 8 aircraft has gone very well and you now have three aircraft on line. Your self satisfaction feelings are quickly dashed however when you become aware of an unofficial gathering planned for that afternoon at a local bar to farewell Rob Ratchet, a young engineer who has just had his employment terminated for an incident on the tarmac. As the safety manager, you ask if there is a report available related to the incident that resulted in his termination and are told there isn't one but the employees you speak with are willing to share the information.

The parking bays at FareGo's home base include access to a covered walkway-similar to an aerobridge-that is used to deliver passengers to the aircraft. It is the airport operator's policy that all aircraft are to be pushed back by a tug from the walkway structure prior to starting engines.

FareGo is still in the process of fully equipping for operating the Dash 8 aircraft and has been borrowing tow bars from Super Surveys, another operator at Rocky Mountain Way who operate a mixture of Super King Air and Dash 8 aircraft to conduct aerial survey operations for Blue Sky Mines. The tow bars used for Dash 8 pushback are almost identical to the ones used for the smaller and lighter Super King Airs. When supplied by the Dash 8 manufacturer, the tow bars supplied with them were painted red to differentiate them from the Super King Air tow bars. The Super Surveys company colour is royal blue and all aircraft and support equipment feature the colour as a marketing tool. The marketing department specified that the Dash 8 tow bars must be repainted to conform to the company's marketing strategy.

Since borrowing the tow bars, there have been a number of incidents where the wrong tow bar has been used to pushback the Dash 8 aircraft. The King Air tow bars are not strong enough to push the Dash 8 and often bend or, on occasions, the shear pin breaks. After the last incident, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bruce Bigwig, stated that if there were another incident the person responsible would ‘get the sack' (have their employment terminated).

To address the problem, the Chief Engineer, Max Torque, mandated a procedure that no aircraft could be pushed back without the tow bar in use being inspected by a second engineer to confirm the correct one was fitted.

On the day of the incident, the tarmac was very busy. Only two engineers were rostered for tarmac and dispatch duties to reduce staff costs. Rob was ready to conduct the push back of a Dash 8 and was awaiting a confirmation of the tow bar from the other engineer on duty.

Unfortunately, the other engineer was dealing with a pre-dispatch fault on an aircraft a few bays away and was therefore delayed in his attendance. There were other engineers in the hangar but Rob had no way of getting a message to them. The captain of Rob's pushback was becoming agitated. He advised Rob that if he didn't push right away he wouldn't make curfew at his destination and the company would be responsible for overnight costs for all his passengers. As the aircraft was full, this would be significant. Rob was sure he had fitted the correct tow bar and commenced the pushback. He had only moved a few metres when the shear pin broke and the disconnected aircraft continued rolling backwards. The captain was stunned and instinctively applied braking which caused the aircraft to stop suddenly. A flight attendant standing in the cabin delivering the safety demonstration fell and suffered a broken arm. As a result, the aircraft was delayed and the flight cancelled with significant cost to the company not to mention the personal injury-and associated sick leave-to the flight attendant.

The CEO was furious and young Rob was given his marching orders there and then.

You feel that Rob has been hardly done by and call the CEO straight away. You explain to the CEO that you feel this is an organisational accident and that there would be significant benefit from the conduct of a safety promotion campaign related to the safe conduct of tarmac operations with an emphasis on the correct tools for the job and the resistance of time pressure that potentially affects safe operations. The CEO is happy with your proposal and agrees to reinstate Rob on probation. He is also open to the idea of rescinding his policy of sacking for further breaches provided there is a demonstrated improvement in safety behaviour as a result of the campaign.

You have never designed a safety promotion campaign before and remember your lecturer's advice that ‘Google is your friend'. You grab a coffee and start searching for precedents.

You quickly discover that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is currently running a safety promotion campaign titled Avoidable Accidents. A link to the website where you will find broad details of the campaign is available on the Assessment 2 information link on L@G or via the following web address:

https://www.atsb.gov.au/infocus/posts/2015/avoidable-accidents/

The campaign is a broad umbrella covering eight specific areas chosen by the ATSB for the campaign (Avoidable Accidents 1 - 7 plus A Pilot's Guide to Staying Safe in the Vicinity of Non-Controlled Aerodromes). A link to the publications website where you will find specific details about each area is available on the Assessment 2 information link or by clicking on the link PDF versions of booklets. Printed copies are available by mail however, you are unsure as to the timeframe for delivery. Whilst reviewing the site in general, and the specific link to each publication you realise there are multiple links that provide further background information about the campaign in general as well as its specific elements.

Task

Access the Avoidable Accident campaign website and the associated link to the safety Publications page where PDF versions of booklets, are available along with any links you feel will assist in your research. Search carefully as there are many links available on the ATSB website alone that are specifically related to expanding on the information provided in the booklets. You may wish to investigate the options under the Publication Type drop-down menu.

Question 1

There is a significant body of literature on persuasive communication used in safety promotion campaigns with the aim of achieving behavioural change. The successful communication of messages via a safety promotion campaign is dependent on a large number of factors including the appropriate selection and application of message delivery techniques suitable for the intended audience. The advantages and and disadvantages of a wide variety of techniques are also well documented amongst a range of books, academic papers and published journal articles.

Identify and list four different message delivery techniques, used by the ATSB across the broad Avoidable Accidents campaign. For each of the four techniques you identify, provide one specific reference of its use within the campaign.

Taking in to account the target audience, choose one of the techniques from the four you have identified, that you feel is potentially the most effective and justify your choice.

Question 2

Select one of the eight specific subjects (Avoidable Accidents 1 - 7 plus A Pilot's Guide to Staying Safe in the Vicinity of Non-Controlled Aerodromes) of the campaign for deeper analysis and provide your answers to the following questions:

a. What is the reason for the campaign on the specific subject you have chosen?

b. Who is the specific target audience of the campaign on the specific subject you have chosen? (Please do not just state a generic group such as pilots, engineers, baggage handlers etc.)

c. State your opinion of the level of success of the campaign on the specific subject you have chosen.

d. Provide details of the criteria you used to form that opinion.

e. Provide your analysis of why the campaign on the specific subject you have chosen was a success or a failure.

f. What changes (if any) would you make to the campaign on the specific subject you have chosen and provide the reasons why?

SAFETY PROMOTION The link to the ATSB Avoidable Accidents website page is here:

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/publications-list/?publicationType=Avoidable%20accidents

A link to the ATSB Safety Publications page for booklets on the eight specific campaign subjects is here.

https://www.atsb.gov.au/infocus/posts/2015/avoidable-accidents/

1500 words

5 reference