Purpose
This research seeks to explore employee and manager perceptions of the operation of a ‘just culture’ within the aviation maintenance sector. A ‘just culture’ means a culture in which front-line operators or other persons are not punished for actions, omissions or decisions taken by them that are commensurate with their experience and training, but in which gross negligence, wilful violations and destructive acts are not tolerated ((EU) 376/2014, Article 2). The focus is on systems improvement such that the individual or human error is not the focus but rather the systems and processes in place to safe guard and ensure that any errors, incidents or occurrences are accurately captured and process improvements put in place to ensure such incidents are minimised going forward.
While much just culture research has been focused in the health care sector, this paper seeks to examine the adoption of a just culture in the aircraft maintenance sector. While historically, the focus in the aviation sector had been on pilot error there is increasing recognition of the systems based approach, which seeks to minimise the number of incidents by focusing not exclusively on human error, but of building a continuous improvement mentality. This can only be achieved where employees are imbued in a culture that encourages open reporting of incidents without fear of personal reprisal.
Design/ Methodology/Approach
This paper adopts a mixed methods approach utilising JCAT (just culture assessment tool) first developed by Petschonek (2011) for the health care setting which was adapted for use and applied in to the aviation maintenance sector. The JCAT is a 27 item scale measuring perceptions across 6 dimensions of just culture.
In total 326 professional aviation maintenance staff were approached to participate in the survey with 59 completed responses or a response rate of 18%. Of these, 11 were managerial grade, 34 were engineers with 14 categorised as ‘other’. In addition, 12 professional aviation maintenance staff volunteered to participate in an in-depth interview with 7 interviews taking place.
Findings
Findings provide support for an overall positive perception in relation to a just culture within the aviation organisation which was the focus of this study. There were some slight differences between management and engineer categories within the organisation. While at a high level there was support for a positive just culture there is room for improvement to move from an overall organisational score of 3.14 in the slightly agree to further strengthen this response across all categories of employees.
Research Implications/ Originality
This research is novel in its application of the JCAT to a non-health care environment specifically that of aviation maintenance. The findings add to the existing body of empirical research which has found support for just culture as a mechanism to reduce the rate of adverse incidents over time through continuous process improvement.
While the majority of research within the just culture area is heavily quantitative based, this study adopts a mixed methods approach to incorporate a qualitative element adding to the originality of the work.
Practical implications
At an organisational level, the findings of the study may be used to inform the training and resources available to staff to promote a just culture. In addition, management may consider why some staff, especially managers agree and others disagree on some of the scale items. The Aviation Regulator may wish to use the findings to better inform its staff when working with organisations to promote just culture and reporting development. The Regulation requires the European Commission (article 24) by 16 November 2020, to publish and send to the European Parliament and to the Council an evaluation report on the implementation of this Regulation. The Commission or the Aviation Regulator may wish to conduct a national survey to assist in its understanding of just culture impact in the reporting process both at an organisation and at an individual level. This study could provide a template for such a survey.
Keywords: just culture; aviation; maintenance; perception; occurrence reporting
