Organisational culture in safety-critical systems is shaped less by policies and programmes and more by everyday leadership behaviour. This article explores how culture is formed through shared assumptions, why leadership responses matter under pressure, and how Edgar Schein’s work helps us better understand the link between culture, learning, and safety performance.

Change is inevitable in safety-critical systems, but it is also a significant source of risk. This article explores why managing change in complex environments requires more than formal processes, and how systems thinking, learning, and independent assurance support safer transitions.

Emerging aviation technologies introduce new forms of complexity, uncertainty, and operational risk. This article explores the key safety assurance considerations associated with novel systems and operational concepts, and why independent, system-level assurance is essential as aviation technology continues to evolve.

Operational risk in safety-critical systems rarely stems from a single failure. This article explores how systems thinking helps organisations understand how risk emerges from the interaction between people, processes, technology, and decision-making, and why this perspective is essential for managing safety in complex operational environments.

Compliance in safety-critical organisations is often misunderstood as a documentation or audit exercise. This article explores what “good” compliance really looks like in practice, why understanding regulatory intent matters, and how effective compliance supports genuine safety performance rather than simply satisfying oversight requirements.

Risk assessments are central to safety decision-making, yet they can quietly lose relevance as systems, assumptions, and operations change. This article explores when a risk assessment is no longer fit for purpose, the warning signs to look for, and why outdated assessments can create false confidence in complex, safety-critical environments.

Independent safety assurance is often referenced but rarely well defined. This article explores what independence really means in safety-critical environments, how assurance differs from management and audit, and why objective, evidence-based challenge is essential for understanding risk in complex systems.