Austrian Aviation State Safety Programme (AASSP)
The principles of aviation safety management laid down in the SSP serve as a basis for the development of safety management systems (SMS) by the aviation service providers (air lines, training facilities, manufacturers, airports, air-traffic control and so on) and enable the effective identification and removal of systemic safety deficits.
Annex 19 which was developed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) contains the requirement to set up and implement a State Safety Programme – Aviation State Safety Programme (SSP) by each member state of the ICAO. The SSP is a management system to ensure and improve safety in civil aviation by the state.
The goals of the SSP are:
- to ensure that the state has all required foundations in aviation law;
- to ensure that all organisation which are responsible for safety management in civil aviation in Austria take a uniform approach;
- to determine safety benchmarks and to enable the state-wide assessment, control and measuring of these benchmarks in civil aviation; and
- to guarantee the continual improvement of the state's tasks focusing on safety in civil aviation.
The implementation of the SSP requires the coordination and inclusion of all organisations dealing with aviation law and regulations. The coordination will be done by the staff unit SMF of the Air Group.
The SSP document includes a State Safety Policy Statement (Annex 1) as an important strategic document, which has been signed by Federal Minister Doris Bures as the politician responsible for aviation in Austria. The State Safety Policy Statement includes a clear commitment of the Republic of Austria to granting highest priority to the issue of aviation safety.