Designed To Educate Maintainers And Operators On Best Safety Practices

The first regional safety symposium for rotorcraft pilots and technicians from across India was held Friday by Bell Helicopter. A new initiative by the company in 2013, the safety symposium was designed to educate maintainers and operators on key safety practices and applications to implement into their daily operations. The effort is tied in part to Bell Helicopter’s participation in the International Helicopter Safety Team’s mission to achieve an 80 percent reduction in the rate of international civil helicopter accidents by 2016.

“Bell Helicopter has a very aggressive internal safety campaign founded on best-in-class practices and encouraging personal responsibility,” said Eric Cardinali, executive vice president, Customer Support and Services (CSS). “Sharing these tools with our customers is a natural extension of our safety focus and provides our customers an avenue to further their own safety culture and behaviors.”

Bell Helicopter spokeswoman Sara Monger said that two additional symposiums are planned for later this year, but the exact dates have not been solidified. Both will be international in nature, and target emerging markets. Monger said Friday's event was a pilot program, and feedback from the India symposium will help them make adjustments in the presentation.

Initiated at the customers’ request, the safety symposium Friday was led by experienced instructors from the Bell Helicopter Training Academy. The full day session covered a variety of topics, including human factors, environmental factors, procedural complacency, human physiology and building a safety culture. Through interactive discussions, case studies and presentations, participants will gain a greater awareness of the personal and cultural changes necessary to adopt a safety culture and will be equipped with a “toolkit” of safety practices to help drive such a culture at their own facilities.

More than 80 participants from 25 organizations within India registered to attend the event.

“The growth of Bell Helicopter’s customer base in India, coupled with the region’s environmental conditions, make India a prime location for hosting this inaugural event,” said B.S. Shingh Deo, managing director, Business Development at Bell Helicopter India. “The climate in India is such that our customers often operate in hot and high conditions or extreme temperatures. The information and tools we provide them will help them to more safely manage their crews and their aircraft fleet.”

FMI: www.bellhelicopter.com