26 ProfessionalSafety JUNE 2014 www.asse.orgUSAF Aviation Safety ProgramInternational Civil Aviation O r g a n i z a t i o n (ICAO) was established under the UN with jurisdiction over inter-national civil aviation, currently overseeing its 191 member nations. In 2010, the ICAO High-Level Safety Conference recommend-ed that an annex be added to its founding document, the Chicago Convention of 1944, and that it be dedicated to safety management principles. As of November 2013, existing voluntary safety management practices from other sections of the Chicago Convention were consolidated into Annex 19; the four pillars of safety management (i.e., safety policy, risk management, safety assurance and safety promotion) were upgraded from voluntary guidelines to mandatory interna-tional standards to be implemented by each of the ICAO 191 member states. These requirements are further defined within ICAO Order 9859, Safety Management Manual, and are attributable to “training orga-nizations . . . aircraft operators, approved main-tenance organizations, organizations responsible for type design and/or manufacture of aircraft, air traffic service providers and certified aerodromes” (ICAO, 2013, p. 15). Several countries have already successfully established their own aviation safety management programs and continue to comply with ICAO regulations (Stol-zer, Halford & Goglia, 2008). U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently solidified its national aviation safety management system (SMS) commitment by enacting several policies and organi-zational directives aimed at defin-ing the program framework for in-ternal high-level Kris A. Ostrowski, M.A.S., is a doctoral candidate studying aviation safety and human factors within the Ph.D. in Aviation program at Embry-Riddle Aeronauti-cal University. Ostrowski also holds a B.A. in Biology from Augustana College. He has served in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) for 12 years and is a commercially rated pilot with 1,250 flying hours. He was recently appointed as chief, Human Factors Safety Division, within the Air Force Special Operations Command headquarters located at Hurlburt Field, FL.Darrin Valha, LtCol (Ret.), USAF, is chief, Systems Safety, with the Air Force Special Operations Command headquarters located at Hurlburt Field, FL. He holds an M.S. in Human Resource Management from Lesley College and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Loui-siana Tech University. Valha is a retired USAF pilot of 26 years, with more than 3,600 flying hours and 18 years of safety experience. He previously held the position of deputy director of safety for Air Force Special Operations Command.Karen E. Ostrowski, M.A., is an adjunct English professor at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and University of Phoenix. She holds a B.A. in English from Texas A&M University, a B.S. in Elementary Education from Northwestern Oklahoma State Univers...
