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Our overall strategic direction recognizes that transportation
safety is a shared responsibility.
Transport Canada is moving towards a greater emphasis on
performance – where demonstrating the achievement of results is key.
Greater emphasis is placed on industry to demonstrate that its practices are
safe, safe practices are reinforced and safety information is systematically
shared.
Our intention is to make greater use of the full range of
compliance tools available to promote the use of safe practices and to reduce
risk. This does not imply that our resolve to intervene where necessary is
lessened. Rather, our intention is to rely less on traditional policing and
prescriptive approaches; we will consider the use of additional and alternative
compliance tools.
The following broad strategies will be pursued to respond to our
business environment and to achieve the outcomes set out in the previous
section.
A new safety
culture
Continue building a new safety culture by:
- collaborating with industry and other interested parties in the
development of systems and programs to encourage the adoption and reinforcement
of safe practices;
- encouraging alternatives to regulation and, where regulations
are required, promulgating regulations that focus on the safety objective to be
achieved rather than on the process by which it is to be achieved;
- modernizing our information management systems, and focusing
them on collecting data that contribute to the measurement of results and the
analysis of policy;
- developing common measures of safety performance; and
- broadening systematic and constructive consultation and
feedback..
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Safety is not a responsibility of Transport Canada alone
– we all share responsibility for safety. However, the department can play
a key role in promoting and nurturing a stronger safety culture
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Constructive
relationships with stakeholders
Foster constructive relationships with stakeholders
by:
- developing or participating in joint safety promotion and safety
awareness programs;
- continuing to participate in forums and exchange
programs;
- identifying and responding to stakeholder concerns; and
- recognizing and rewarding stakeholders’ contributions to
transportation safety.
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One of the best ways to establish constructive and beneficial
relationships with industry, other government entities, transportation
operators, user associations and the public is to work and consult more
extensively with them on important safety programs. Together, we can develop
new methods for intervening to promote safety and better serve the
public. |
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A systematic approach to risk management
Institute a national, systematic approach to risk management
by:
- engaging the public and other stakeholders in an ongoing
dialogue about what constitutes an acceptable level of risk;
- improving data collection, data quality, and data
sharing;
- enhancing our analytical tools to measure results, identify
hazards, identify trends, and assess levels of risk; and
- adapting our safety programs and resources to respond
appropriately.
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Transport Canada must improve its risk communications by
engaging the public, other stakeholders and the media. We must allocate
available resources to areas where there is the greatest potential for reducing
risk. With the right information and analysis, we can do a better job of identifying safety trends,
of tracking safety deficiencies, and of targeting our resources.
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Improved
tools, practices and techniques
Improve our tools, practices and techniques by:
- identifying alternative policy instruments and compliance tools
to promote and reinforce safe practices;
- ensuring that our policies, rules and standards are accessible
and written in plain language;
- increasing the use of explanatory material, guides and training
in support of our policies, regulations and standards;
- clearly defining measurable objectives and evaluating our
policies, regulations and standards against them; and
- linking the use of policy instruments with the safety objectives
identified in this plan.
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We believe that better information is required to promote the
consistent application of Transport Canada’s policies and legislation
across regions and across modes. We will strive to provide the professionals
who are responsible for the delivery of our safety and security programs with
additional and alternative tools to promote compliance and to take direct and
immediate enforcement action as required. We must also be more rigorous in
stating the objectives of our policies and legislation and in identifying
exactly how we will assess whether they have been achieved.
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Human resources
management
Adopt a systems approach to human resources management by:
- establishing recruitment and development plans for core safety
and security functions based on defined core competencies and the core values
of the new safety culture;
- creating hiring standards, job families that identify common
competencies, and standardized training packages; and
- promoting personnel exchanges at all levels of the
department.
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A
more consistent approach to human resource management will enable us to deliver
on all these goals. In February 1998, Transport Canada established a set of core competencies that we can build on.
Recruitment and development profiles must be established to incorporate the
kinds of skills and experience needed to achieve the objectives established in
this plan. The creation of job families and standardized training packages
should follow. |
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Best practices and
safety technology
Become a broker of international best practices and safety
technology by:
- contributing to the development of international standards and
other initiatives that can lead to cost savings for the department and for
Canadians;
- participating in national and international forums and using all
available opportunities to develop, improve, and promote Canadian safety
technology and practices;
- opening doors to international markets for safety and
environmental practices and technologies for Canadian industry; and
- marketing our best practices and expertise
internationally.
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We intend to continue our participation in international
forums where we can exchange ideas and technologies to promote safe
transportation. We will take advantage of the international recognition our
safety and security professionals have earned to promote best practices and
expertise. We will work closely with stakeholders and use our leverage to
market Canadian safety technology and practices internationally.
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Internal
relationships
Improve internal relationships by:
- sharing skills, knowledge and experience among regional and
headquarters safety and security professionals;
- enhancing internal communications;
- providing multi-modal forums for discussion about the
achievement and measurement of outcomes and other safety topics that cut across
regions and modes; and
- recognizing and rewarding employee contributions.
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Feedback from our
"Building
TC — La Relève" exercise highlights a need to improve
internal communication in order to enhance consistent program delivery. We can
build on the recently issued corporate
"People Talking to People"
employee communications strategy to begin sharing important information and
experience more effectively. If we are to truly embrace multi-modalism, we must
establish a means of exchanging information about safety. We must also develop ways to
better achieve the objectives we have set out in this plan and to measure our
results. Finally, we must recognize and reward
employee contributions in a meaningful way and use communications to
enhance employee self-respect. |
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