Integrating Business Ethics and Human Factors for Enhanced Safety
Business Ethics programs can promote ethical behaviour and safety by its integration within Human Factors training.
Human Factors programmes are mandatory and regulated in the aerospace industry. For aviation professionals, an easy definition for Human Factors is “anything that can affect human performance”.
But what about Business Ethics?
Whilst regulation and technology are evolving to improve airt safety, we can find various aerospace accidents that have been attributed to failures in ethics.
"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do." - Potter Stewart
Hence, Human Factors and Business Ethics are closely related as they may compromise Safety.
However, are regulators and organisations putting enough attention on Business Ethics Programmes?
Let’s explore:
What is Business Ethics?
Key components of a Business Ethics Programme
Proposal for the incorporation of Business Ethics in the Human Factors Programme
Conclusions
What is Business Ethics?
Cambridge dictionary defines business ethics as:
the rules, principles, and standards of deciding what is morally right or wrong when working.
So an ethics program is a set of policies, procedures, and activities that an organisation puts in place to ensure that its employees behave ethically and in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
Within the safety framework, Business Ethics consist of how organisations and individuals approach safety and risk management.
Also, being honest and transparent regards safety issues that arise and doing the necessary investments.
Key components of a Business Ethics Programme
An effective ethics program should have several key components:
1. Leadership commitment: The leadership of the organisation should actively support the ethics program and set a positive example for other employees to follow.
2. Code of conduct: The organisation should have a written code of conduct that clearly defines ethical behaviour and the expectations for employees.
3. Training and education: Employees should receive regular training and education on the code of conduct and ethical behaviour, as well as on relevant laws and regulations.
4. Reporting and investigation: The organisation should have a process in place for employees to report ethical violations and for investigations to be conducted when necessary.
5. Monitoring and auditing: The organisation should regularly monitor and audit its operations to ensure compliance with the code of conduct and identify any potential ethical issues.
6. Continuous improvement: The organisation should regularly review and update its ethics program to ensure that it remains effective and relevant.
Many items above are applicable to aerospace organisations through their Safety Management System, such as:
Safety policy
Safety training
Safety meetings
Incident reporting
Investigation process
Proposal for the incorporation of Business Ethics in the Human Factors Programme
Effectively, Business Ethics programmes could be incorporated into Human Factors training.
This could be achieved in several ways by incorporating in Human Factors training the below additional elements:
1. Ethics into Human Factors training on decision-making and risk management.
2. The organisation’s code of conduct and ethical behaviour
3. The impact of human factors on ethical behave by analysing how human performance can affect the decision-making and how to mitigate these effects.
4. The importance of transparency and reporting of ethical violations
6. Case Studies to understand how ethical considerations apply in different situations.
Conclusions
By having an effective Business Ethics program in place, organisations can help to ensure that their employees behave ethically and that the safety of customers and employees is prioritized.
Let’s take the chance and incorporate Business Ethics into Human Factors training.
In essence, it could be a great tool and channel to emphasise the industry’s integrity in terms of Safety.