Just Culture

TM CAD promotes a culture in which it aims, in particular, at ensuring confidence of aviation professionals in occurrence reporting systems and encourages them to reports any relevant safety information with a view to contribute to the enhancement of aviation safety and accidents prevention. To this end, TM CAD requires organisations to adopt Just Culture principles in their procedures and Safety Managements. Furthermore, TM CAD believes and promotes a culture where individuals are not punished for actions, omissions or decisions taken by them that are commensurate with their experience and training, but which result in a reportable event. Nevertheless, Just Culture must not be used as a means to exonerate individuals from their responsibilities but rather to find a balance between full impunity and blame culture.

Just Culture Monitoring Group

The Just Culture Monitoring Group (JCMG) has been established to support Transport Malta-Civil Aviation Directorate (TM-CAD), the latter being the designated body in accordance with Article 16(12) of Regulation (EU) 376/2014. The purpose of JCMG is to facilitate TM-CAD with the spontaneous reporting of Just Culture infringements within the Aviation Industry, support it in implementing the relevant provisions of this same Regulation and in order to ensure that ‘Just Culture’ principles.

The Director General has designated five (5) aviation professionals to form part of the Just Culture Monitoring Group and ensure that Just Culture principles are implemented and enforced. From this pool of five (5) professionals, a three-person (3) Group shall be formed when cases of infringements are reported. These aviation professionals shall include four (4) Directors from the Transport Malta-Civil Aviation Directorate, Executives or Consultants who are appointed by the Director General and one (1) third party non-Transport Malta employee/officer, who is also to by chosen by the Director General, who is a qualified pilot, advocate or engineer working in the aviation industry. This third party shall act as the Chairman of this Group.

Any employee and/or contracted personnel of the organisations established in the Republic of Malta, who feel that they have been aggrieved or prejudiced in any way pursuant to any action taken against them, have a right to petition to the Just Culture Monitoring Group. In this regard, the protection granted in Regulation (EU) 376/2014 shall not apply to any of the following situations:

a) in cases of wilful misconduct

b) where there has been a manifest, severe and serious disregard of an obvious risk and profound failure of professional responsibility to take such care as is evidently required in the circumstances, causing foreseeable damage to a person or property, or which seriously compromises the level of aviation safety.

Reporting an alleged infringement does not replace the occurrence reporting system (MOR or VOR) of TM-CAD. Alleged infringements are to be reported via the CAD reporting weblink.

The Group shall ensure the confidentiality of the identity of the reporter, as well as any other individuals who are involved in the report made.