Air Force Operational Safety Council

Flying Safety, April, 2004

The Air Force Operational Safety Council (AFOSC) was established in December 2003 to provide corporate governance of AF-wide mishap prevention efforts and to lay out the AF position for the Defense Safety Oversight Council (DSOC). The AFOSC created five subordinate Task Forces: Operational Safety Improvement, Aviation Safety Improvement, Motor Vehicle Accident Reduction, Industrial Operations and Safety Investment Strategy.

The AFOSC kickoff was in March 2004. The council reviewed the Air Force's 10-year mishap statistics and trends and presented MAJCOM briefings on their plans to meet the Secretary of Defense's goal of a 50 percent reduction in preventable mishaps.

Building on the Air Force Safety Analysis 1993-2002 (see link at http://afsafety.af.mil/), the HQ Air Force Safety Center is working on a follow-on, in-depth analysis of Class A and B mishaps. HQ AFSC will serve as the advocate for new technology, policy and training to assist in mishap reduction. In FY03, they established a traffic safety Integrated Process Team and hosted a motorcycle safety summit.

The U.S. Air Force Safety Strategic Vision and Plan for FY04 includes establishing AFOSC, attacking the Risk Reduction Target Areas, extending the safety analysis to Class C mishaps, establishing a process for corporate review, and accelerating the development of the Air Force Safety Automated System (AFSAS).

AFOSC's target areas for risk reduction include controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), midair collisions, powerplant, loss of control in-flight, A/C system (non-powerplant), impact damage (wild-life), impact damage (object), traffic safety, and sports and recreation.

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 2004-673-456-53066