In the August issue of SHP magazine, Carrie Stewart interviews Sharon Preston, director of safety and airfield operations at London City Airport.
Sharon’s career in aviation spans 28 years, starting as a part-time information assistant in the terminal and moving on to full time roles in operations and security. In 2010 she was tasked with turning around the airport’s health and safety culture.
In the article, Sharon discusses the challenges that arise in keeping staff at the busy terminal safe, and creating a positive response to health and safety. Getting everyone on board can be difficult, and Sharon explains the initiatives that she and her team have put in place to get the health and safety message across to the airport as a whole.
One of the biggest health and safety issues at London City Airport is manual handling. Sharon describes the difficulties staff can face in a time-pressured environment, and how they turned things around after receiving an improvement notice from HSE.
The overall message is that a safety culture takes time to cultivate, and getting staff to take responsibility for their own and others’ safety is an important part of the process. Making health and safety accessible and seen as necessary, rather than something that is often viewed as an ‘add-on’ or chore, is also a good step towards a positive safety culture.
This article will appear in the August issue, out at the beginning of the month.
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