Repositioning, Entrenching NAF Safety Management Systems
To reposition and entrench safety management systems in the Nigerian Air Force, the service recently held its annual safety seminar where the NAF Safety Review Board analysed safety issues of the service with the aim of appraising the progress made so far
Themed "Enhancing Safety in the Nigerian Air Force in Conflict Situation", the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) recently held its 2022 Safety Review Board (SRB) in Lagos where how to reposition and entrench NAF safety management systems as well as safety culture in the service was the focal discussion for two days.
Safety Review Board
For the NAF, the SRB has become a yearly routine as the focus is to primarily review safety issues in the NAF with the aim of appraising the progress made so far in furtherance of efforts to enhance safety practices.
At each SRB, issues discussed are those vital to improving the safety culture as well as hazard identification and risk management techniques within their operational context because the goal is to seek realistic ways of reducing the operational risks to as low as reasonably practicable.
Although the last NAF SRB meeting was held on November 25, 2021 at Abuja, the NAF did not suspend its safety quest for a year till the next SRB, rather, safety issues has continuously been on its front burner.
According to NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, just a month ago, at the NAF Operations Seminar held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao (CFR), who also doubles as SRB Chairman,
re-emphasised the need for NAF pilots to take extra safety precautions and measures to safeguard and avoid accidental air strikes on civilian lives and properties.
Safety at Core for NAF
Stressing that safety is at the core of NAF’s daily routines, Air Marshal Amao said the service remains committed to developing, implementing and reviewing policies to ensure that NAF activities were conducted with utmost safety in an optimally safe environment.
While reiterating the importance of the SRB, which is to guide the NAF in appropriately allocating resources to support all safety systems and build organisational culture that fosters safe practices, he said the meeting was expected to provide an avenue to examine prevalent and evolving safety challenges to enable the NAF adopt safety processes to uphold high safety standards in all its activities.
Enhancing Safety in Conflict Situations
According to CAS, the theme resonates with most of the resolutions reached at the last Operations Seminar and is equally in consistent with their tradition of being proactive in identifying safety hazards that could hamper air operations.
He said: "As aircraft operators, past experiences have revealed that non-compliance with basic aviation safety rules and regulations often lead to dire consequences for both the personnel and the NAF.
"In fact, failure to strictly follow established standard operating procedures, or to review and update them regularly, especially after an incident, can result in avoidable tragedy...
"Indeed, the main objective of safety in the NAF is to preserve air combat power through accident prevention to achieve optimum operational effectiveness with minimum incidents or accidents."
Shared Responsibility
However, the Chief believes that safety is a shared responsibility that requires synergy between regulators, operators and other stakeholders.
Reiterating that the joint operating environment is complex by the day as violent non-state actors and criminals continue to devise new ways to disrupt security, safety, law and order, he however stressed that as a service, they will not relent in their effort and resolve to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria and its people.
He said: "Hence, the Nigerian Air Force has intensified its combat and non-kinetic activities across all theatres of operations. In conjunction with other services, the Nigerian Air Force has brought air power capabilities to bear on insurgents and criminal elements, thus denying them their hitherto safe havens and freedom of action.
"This has been made possible by sustained intense rates of efforts of our aircrew, ground crew and capable staff who work day and night to ensure optimum aircraft serviceability and availability for conduct of operations."
Inherent Risks
Despite continuous efforts to live out its mandate, the CAS believes that there are " inherent risks which we must proactively mitigate in order not to jeopardize operational effectiveness.
"As we all know, there is a direct correlation
between safety and operational efficiency which makes it an imperative for us to give it all the attention it deserves. It is in realization of the above that the Nigerian Air Force has made safety to central to its operational and non-operational activities.
"It is a major priority for the Nigerian Air Force and that is why we are investing so much in terms of safety capacity development, management and integrations. We are constantly looking at the Safety Management System in various units to ensure that it is proactive enough to meet our objectives for efficient and timely hazard identification and risk management."
Commitment to Implementing Strategies
Air Marshal Amao also noted that the NAF is committed to implementing strategies that would ensure that all activities are conducted in a safe and efficient manner.
"I consider this crucial to the successful attainment of my vision of “enhancing and sustaining critical airpower capabilities required for joint force employment in pursuit of national security imperatives”.
"In the quest for safety in our operations, the Nigerian Air Force has done its bit. We have tried to put processes in place in line with our Safety Management System and best practices."
This they have done by improving the state of their military airfields, procured runway sweepers, fire tenders, Personal Protective Equipment, upgraded Base Operations Offices and other safety critical equipment for operational units.
NAF has also trained Flight Dispatchers to man the Offices and a number of instructors across relevant NAF specialties at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria.
" Similarly, some officers are undergoing safety courses at notable safety training institutes overseas so as to bolster capacity. We have also upgraded some of our aircraft and equipped them with more safety features.
" Additionally, we are collaborating more with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Accident Investigation Bureau and the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria in a bid to improving our safety standards and systems.
" A recent dividend of this collaboration was the assessment of our airfields and some joint user airfields by a joint team constituted by the Minister of Aviation with a view to upgrading navigational and safety facilities at the airfields.
" Accordingly, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency has charted Performance Based Navigation approaches for some of our airfields."
Demand for Air Power and Safety Incentives
On the demand for air power in the current fight against insurgency, he said it is ever increasing, thus putting a substantial amount of pressure on personnel, resources and materiel.
" In the midst of such enormous pressure, we are aware that the tendency for unsafe acts, complacency and challenges of human factors could surface from time to time. As part of initiatives to prevent unsafe tendencies.
" I instituted a mentorship program for our aircrew whereby some of our highly experienced retired senior officers who are safety trained, tour operational units periodically to observe activities at the units and advice commanders, aircrew and non-aircrew on best safety practices.
" Some of the mentors are here present in this hall. This is in addition to the unit safety audit being conducted by the Standards and Evaluation Branch. I have also directed that past Accident Investigation Board reports be made available to all operational units and studied with a view to identifying lessons and implementing pending safety recommendations.
"We have also reinvigorated the Nigerian Air Force Institute of Safety to enable it meet its objectives. For instance, within the last three months about 30 officers have graduated from various safety courses conducted by the School.
"We are also collaborating with United State Air Force Safety Team. The team conducted safety assessments of some of our operational units and made far-reaching recommendations, most of which have been implemented.
"Consequently, the Pilot Basic Safety Course, which is the first of its kind run by the Nigerian Air Force Institute of Safety, was recently conducted for 12 pilots and 2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operators of the Nigerian Air Force.
" New sets of pilots, UAV operators and ground crew are already billed to undergo same Course. The key objective is to produce pilots, UAV operators and ground crew with analytical minds and adequate knowledge in safety procedures, hazards identification and risk assessment.
" We have instituted senior management commitment to safety which is critical to the implementation of Safety Management System.
"I noted that many of the safety recommendations of the Board’s last meeting have been implemented by affected branches, commands and units. We know that a lot still needs to be done in spite of these efforts. That is why we are embarking on training and retraining in order to improve our safety culture.
" I am particularly committed to deepening the Safety Culture within the Nigerian Air Force, which is one of the main objectives of this seminar," he added.
While acknowledging the unwavering support NAF enjoys from President Muhammadu Buhari, he said without it, they would not have been able to record the modest achievements made.
MOD's Take
In his remarks, the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi, reiterated that safety plays a very important role in the successful accomplishment of NAF's constitutional mandate.
Represented by Director of Air Force Affairs in the Ministry, Mr Dahiru Mohammed, he said: "While I understand the essence of safety for the armed forces in general, I must admit that the peculiarities of air operations have placed an additional burden on the Nigerian Air Force to take the lead in safety matters at all three levels of warfare; namely, the strategic, operational and tactical levels.
" Military aviation safety is of great concern to us at the Ministry of Defence, particularly because aviation accidents such as air crashes, could erode the Ministry’s overall war fighting capabilities in many tangible and intangible ways.
"Apart from the loss of expensive platforms in air crashes, the accompanying irreplaceable loss of well trained and highly skilled personnel often have adverse effects on the general morale of the services and the nation at large.
"During minor incidents or accidents, injury to personnel and aircraft often lead to loss of valuable manhours, while affected personnel or aircraft are grounded during the period of accident investigation or even recovery from injuries and aircraft repairs.
"This is not to mention the financial and economic implication of such repairs or outright replacement of the affected aircraft or equipment.
"From the foregoing, it is obvious that aircraft accidents and incidents exert enormous, morale and economic pressure on the nation. Therefore, safety is everybody’s business and all hands must always be on deck to ensure and maintain high safety standards in all environments, be it at homes, workplace or theatres of operation."
He further commended the CAS and the NAF for their unrelenting efforts in ensuring a secure and safe Nigeria, especially with the deployment of air assets and crew in recent efforts to destroy the enclaves of insurgents and bandits in various parts of the country, while also decimating several of their notorious commanders and leaders.
For all those who attended the seminar, the theme was quite germane as it addressed efforts made to sustain the high operational readiness of NAF especially with its recent and frequent decimation of terrorists and other insurgent groups.
Indeed, the main objective of safety in the NAF is to preserve air combat power through accident prevention to achieve optimum operational effectiveness with minimum incidents or accidents