Africa-Press – Seychelles. The Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) is this week commemorating the African Airports Safety Week 2022 with an exhibition at the Seychelles International Airport.
Launched by chief executive officer Garry Albert yesterday morning, the five-day exhibition features exhibits from the various stakeholders key to the airport’s operations, including the Seychelles Petroleum Company (Seypec), Seychelles Air Force, Islands Development Company (IDC), Skychef and Zil Air, among others.
This years’ campaign is being observed under the theme ‘Involving our stakeholders in Runway Safety’ as chosen by the Airports Council International (ACI). In keeping with the theme, SCAA has decided to involve all stakeholders to highlight the importance of collaboration and team effort in safety management at the airport.
In launching the exhibition, CEO Albert called on all stakeholders to collaborate and work together in the management of safety, towards ensuring that the aviation industry remains safe and successful.
“Safety is, and will always remain, our top priority. I want to highlight one of the core truths about safety at an airport. It is a job not just for people who have ‘safety’ in their job titles, or those in operations. It is a job for every member of our airport community. It takes all of us to report safety issues. And, to actively discuss these issues in order to reach the next level,” Mr Albert stated.
Mr Albert further emphasised the need for all airport staff and users to remain consistently vigilant, to be able to identify and understand the risks in aviation operations, and address such risks.
He stated that a high-performance safety environment is one which relies on the honesty of stakeholders, honesty in reporting hazards and safety breaches, and in admitting mistakes.
“In safety, the main competition is the safety of our people, the safety of the passengers, and the safety of airport-users. Our competition is to provide a safe aviation environment to the people we work for,” Mr Albert added.
As with many other airports globally, Seychelles has implemented the Centrik Safety Management System (SMS), which has allowed for the evolution from reactive to proactive safety management processes.
An important component of the SMS is safety risk management, comprising three processes, namely, hazard identification, safety risk assessment and risk mitigation. To be successful, the SMS relies on a Just culture that places great value on front-line employees including pilots, air traffic controllers, airside operations officers, engineers and ground handlers, raising and reporting safety concerns, noted SCAA’S aviation safety manager Kisnan Tamatave.
Other activities organised for the Airport Safety Week include inter-operations visits on Mahé and Praslin, and safety talks to engage participants and stakeholders who may not be involved in operations, about their roles in maintaining airport safety, for all airport-users.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the exhibition.
For More News And Analysis About Seychelles Follow Africa-Press
