Development of an airline cabin crew pre-task hazard assessment tool: The identi-fly hazard booklet

Airline cabin crew are exposed to a broad range of hazards and associated risks which can be difficult to manage with any failings leading to grave consequences for both employees, passengers and airline businesses as a whole. Airlines must therefore strive to develop new strategies for the innovative management of hazards and work towards reducing their risks to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). This paper discusses a pilot program to improve a large Australian commercial airline’s management of the hazards faced by cabin crew. It details the introduction of a program for the development, implementation and evaluation of a pre-task identification hazard assessment tool called the ‘Identi-Fly’ booklet. Results indicated that there was an improvement in the hazard identification capabilities of the cabin crew and the program promoted a stronger interdependent safety culture amongst the work group that enabled cabin crew to protect both themselves and others against the major hazards they encounter. The success of the program would appear to assist in improving an airline’s overall safety management objectives whilst also supporting the more holistic objective of the cabin crew department to become incident and injury free.