The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has introduced a new Safety Manager Certificate Program to provide introductory to mid-level education on safety in business aircraft operations, reflecting the association’s commitment to safety as one of the industry’s core values.

Developed in collaboration with Advanced Aircrew Academy, Convergent Performance and Fireside Partners, the program includes education and testing in six key areas of safety management: leadership, safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, safety promotion and emergency response.

The program will begin being offered in January 2022.

“NBAA saw a need to develop an entry to mid-level certificate designed for new and existing safety managers,” said NBAA Director, Certification Tyler Austin. “This certificate will educate and validate what these safety professionals need to know to effectively manage a business aviation organization’s safety management efforts.”

After completing the course, successful program participants will receive a certificate and a digital badge to validate their knowledge. Both flight department personnel who have been assigned safety management responsibilities, and professionals looking to work in business aviation operations, can greatly benefit from the program.

“The primary objective of the assessment-based certificate program is to help flight department personnel who have been assigned safety management responsibilities, typically as an ancillary duty, so they can effectively manage a business aviation organization’s safety management efforts, including its safety management system,” said NBAA Director, Safety and Flight Operations Mark Larsen.

The Safety Manager Certificate Program is intended to establish a baseline knowledge, identify resources safety that managers can rely upon as references and inspire a desire for more advanced learning in the areas of safety management – rather than to create deep expertise in every domain.

The program is being offered in two eight-week periods each year, and will include several hours each week of asynchronous learning modules, independent self-study reading reference material, webinar interaction for additional learning, an “ask the experts” component and a test preparation session.

Candidates must complete the course modules and pass the final exam to receive a Safety Manager Certificate.