Aviation Safety: Definition of Terms

Vocabulary flashcards defining fundamental aviation safety terms, risk management concepts, safety standards, and SMS components based on the lecture notes.

Aviation Safety

The state of an aviation system or organization in which risks associated with aviation activities, related to, or in direct support of the operation of aircraft, are reduced and controlled to an acceptable level.

Airport Security

Measures taken to combat intentional malicious acts, distinct from aviation safety.

Security

Protection from intentional harm or property damage.

Hazard

An agent which has the potential to cause harm to a vulnerable target, or any source of potential damage, harm, or adverse health effects on something or someone.

Danger

The general word for liability to all kinds of injury or evil consequences, either near at hand and certain, or remote and doubtful; an expression of relative exposure to a hazard.

Loss

The severity of personal harm, property damage, and/or process interruption and their accompanying monetary loss which could result if the control of a hazard is lost.

Risk

Chance of loss; an expression of possible loss over a specific period of time or number of operational cycles, usually indicated by the product of the probability that a hazard will cause an accident x the length of exposure to the hazard x the potential loss.

Risk Assessment

An evaluation based on engineering and operational judgement and/or analysis methods in order to establish whether the achieved or perceived risk is acceptable or tolerable.

Safety

Control of accidental loss; an expression of relative protection from exposure to hazards; the antonym of danger.

Accident

Unplanned, undesired event that results in harm to people, damage to property or loss to process; it is the result of contact with a substance or energy source above the threshold limit of the body or structure.

Incident

Usually referred to as the 'near accident' or 'near miss'; an unplanned, undesired event that adversely affects completion of a task.

Flight Safety Standard

Safety standards associated with the operation of an aircraft from the time a person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight to the time all persons have disembarked.

Ground Safety Standard

Safety standards associated with aircraft ground operation during maintenance and vehicle or mobile ground equipment operations.

Industrial Safety Standard

Safety standards associated with all industrial operations of the company not falling under flight or ground safety standards.

Safety Policy

An SMS component that establishes senior management's commitment to continually improve safety; defines the methods, processes, and organizational structure needed to meet safety goals.

Safety Risk Management

An SMS component that determines the need for, and adequacy of, new or revised risk controls based on the assessment of acceptable risk.

Safety Assurance

An SMS component that evaluates the continued effectiveness of implemented risk control strategies; supports the identification of new hazards.

Safety Promotion

An SMS component that includes training, communication, and other actions to create a positive safety culture within all levels of the workforce.

Risk Mitigation

Action taken to reduce risk to an acceptable level when the consequent risk is determined to be unacceptable.