annual report 2009 - Aer Lingus

20 Corporate Social Responsibility Statement Aer Lingus Group Plc – Annual Report 2009Aer Lingus School’s Art Competition prize winner Aoife Harvey pictured with her winning design and her classmates from St Colmcilles Primary School, Claudy.Air SafetyAer Lingus’ Air Safety Office acts as anindependent monitor of air safety riskmanagement. This office focuses on accidentprevention and hazard and risk analysis andalso promotes best practice and awarenessthroughout the Group. The Air Safety Officeis also responsible for management of FlightData Monitoring. This is a safety processwhereby flight performance is regularlymonitored to identify any areas of risk and isused in both operational and maintenanceplanning. The Air Safety Office operates theGroup’s Air Safety Reporting System, itsIncident and Happening Database and aconfidential air safety reporting system.Aer Lingus participates in a numberof International Air Safety Organisationsincluding IATA, the IAA Safety ManagementWorking Group, the United KingdomFlight Safety Committee, the Flight SafetyFoundation, the Runway Safety Committeeand the National Bird Hazard Committee.Through its involvement with the internationalaviation community, Aer Lingus enhancesits safety awareness by means of informationsharing, ensuring that at all times the Groupis fully compliant with international bestpractice in the safety arena.Health and SafetyThere is a well established Health and SafetyOffice, which focuses on workplace safety,health and welfare. This office co-ordinatesthe implementation of health and safetypolicy throughout Aer Lingus. The officealso develops Group policy. The Healthand Safety Office focuses on accidentprevention via a hazard and risk assessmentprogramme, runs a continuous programmeof health and safety training in consultationwith line departments, advises departmentson development of health and safety andmanages incident reporting and investigationprocedures. It is Aer Lingus policy to haveas a constant objective the creation andmaintenance of a safe working environmentfor its staff and the Group has a SafetyStatement, based on all relevant legislationand regulations, which specifies how thisshould be implemented. Annual reviewsare carried out to ensure compliance andsystem effectiveness.Aer Lingus Health and Safety personnel aremembers of a number of safety organisationsincluding; the Institution of OccupationalSafety and Health, the International AirTransport Section of the US National SafetyCouncil, and the Aviation Ground SafetyCouncil (UK). The Health and Safety Advisoris one of the employer representative’s onthe Manual Handling Advisory Group forthe H.S.A. In addition, the Group operatesan Employee Assistance Programme (EAP),which is a resource that provides educationto staff on matters pertaining to health andinformation to facilitate improved attendancemanagement.