Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) SOC Limited, in partnership with the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) Africa, University of Witwatersrand, University of Pretoria, Rhodes University and the Ergonomic Society of South Africa, is set to host the 2nd African Symposium on Human Factors and Aviation Safety (ASHFAS) on 7 to 11 September in Cape Town, South Africa.

As with medicine, safety sits at the heart of the aviation industry. Improving safety performance has become a global priority.

Addressing the theme ‘From talking to doing safety’, the symposium will focus on creating an opportunity for the African aviation industry and the medical industry as well as academia, to collaborate and explore means of linking research with operational expertise, to improve safety performance.

The symposium also provides the perfect platform to discuss the latest international safety research.

ASHFAS is exploring ways that medical and aviation industries can learn from each other on ‘how human error in complex socio-technical environments is managed’. Prof Erik Hollnagel, who is widely considered to be the father of ‘resilience engineering", is one of the key speakers. He has extensively dealt with system safety both within the medical and aviation domains for many decades.

With a vibrant array of keynote speakers who are experts in their respective fields as well as a host of operational and research-based papers spanning numerous topics, this symposium is sure to provide essential insight and educate delegates regarding safety and human performance.

The African Symposium on Human Factors and Aviation Safety is registered with the HPCSA and delegates can obtain CPD points for attending. Ashgate publishing house will also be selling books at the symposium on patient safety and human performance at deeply reduced prices.