A review of the voluntary error reporting culture in aircraft maintenance : a case of Island Aviation Services ltd. of the Maldives / Mohamed Guraishy Abdul Razzaq

Abstract

A significant body of literature indicates that voluntary error reporting can contribute to improving safety in aviation subject to doing it properly and diligently. Studies conducted on aircraft maintenance engineers has suggested that they are not reporting all safety concerns using the reporting systems provided. This dissertation seeks to find out the situation inside the national flag carrier of the Maldives, Island Aviation Services Ltd. Official statistics from the Safety and Security department of IASL shows that not all maintenance related incidents have been reported by maintenance crew. This includes reports which have been mandated by the company and MCAA. Alarmingly there had been no voluntary reports on maintenance errors either.
A cross sectional research was conducted to find the perception of the maintenance crew in IASL about voluntary error reporting. It was also aimed to find out the barriers they face when trying to report maintenance errors. A survey questionnaire was distributed and the results from the data obtained clearly suggested that they were not reporting all safety concerns. It also clarified the perception and barriers to voluntary error reporting.
A total of 78 people responded to the survey with a response rate of 76.47%. The results of the findings were somewhat expected as most were in-line with the previous literature. The perception of the crew was good as they were willing to report voluntarily but there were some concerns which prevented them from coming forth and report. The results showed that only a few used the proper channel to report and most opted to notify the immediate supervisor. There were several reasons as to why they opt not to report officially. Without addressing these issues effectively, the benefits from the voluntary reporting systems can never be realized.