The limitations of the traditional safety metrics applied to safety on a dynamic civil aviation industry - an empirical study applied to Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

The aim of this investigation was to analyse the limitations of the metrics based on non-events applied to safety management systems, in a dynamic aviation industry. This philosophy is consistent with the perception that safety is characterised by the freedom of intolerable risk. The system is safe when nothing undesirable happens. However, it becomes a paradox to measure what cannot be controlled. The measurement of safety, by having as an indicator what went wrong, means that the safer a system is, the less there will be to measure and if something rarely happens, it becomes impossible to assess how well it works. In a metaphoric sense, it can either lead to the expected production goals but also to the limits of the system. A fundamental aspect of safety management is control, to have power over something, which under this paradox makes it increasingly difficult to achieve and with counterproductive results.