Norwegian air traffic controllers praised for safety culture

In cooperation with Eurocontrol and the University of Aberdeen, the ANS recently carried out a survey of its safety culture - two years after the previous one. Workshops were carried out to verify and expand on the responses given at the air traffic control centres in Oslo and Stavanger. A preliminary report shows clear progress following targeted efforts in the last two years, which included a nationwide campaign at towers, air traffic control centres and in technical regions. The actual campaign has consisted of the safety staff at ANS visiting all the units around the country. Through meetings with the air traffic controllers, air traffic controller assistants, engineers and local unit management, everyone was given a presentation on safety culture and human factors as a basis for creating awareness, understanding and a commitment to continuous improvement of safety through development of a sound safety culture, says Knut Skaar, CEO ANS. Kirwan believes the results of the survey reveal a high degree of trust between co-workers, and between employees and the management in the entire organisation, which is a precondition for further improvement. He adds that the ANS division in Avinor is in the process of achieving a best in class safety culture compared to other service providers in Europe. The positive findings in the report inspire us in our continuing efforts to further strengthen our safety culture. Safety is the most important product that Avinor and the ANS deliver, and we see that we are better today than yesterday at the same time as we know that we will be even more capable tomorrow, says Skaar.