Skyguide: a High Reliability Organisation

As a High Reliability Organisation (HRO), skyguide aims to achieve and maintain the highest possible reliability in its activities and further develop and refine its ability to respond adequately to unexpected incidents or threats.

As an HRO, skyguide possesses the required structures which enable it to learn the necessary lessons from any events which occur, to anticipate incidents and to identify any unexpected deviations from its normal operations. In doing so, skyguide pursues the goal of acting appropriately and minimising the effects of any incidents which occur. The prime principles and approaches of an HRO are:

• Systematically learning from events. An HRO will systematically gather information on incidents, problems and errors, draw the correct conclusions from them and disseminate these throughout its organisation.
• Rejecting simplified interpretations. An HRO aims to fully understand its organisation, its systems and its problems, and to do so without resorting to simplification. It further strives to develop systems and procedures whose complexity is limited to what is required to achieve such understanding.     
• Understanding operating performance. A sound understanding and appreciation of its operating performance enables an HRO to anticipate deviations from the norm and identify in good time any divergences from regular operations.
• Coping with deviations. An HRO is always prepared to respond appropriately to any deviations from the norm, in order to minimise the impact thereof.
• Appreciating expertise. An HRO supports the empowerment of its personnel by objectively assigning them responsibilities, giving them authority to act, promoting a system of verifiable decision-making and maintaining a feedback culture.