As part of our overall safety goals, ATSAP has established a system for our Controllers and Other Employees to voluntarily identify and report safety and operational concerns. The collected information is reviewed and analyzed to facilitate early detection and improved awareness of operational deficiencies and adverse trends. The information specified in employee reports is used to identify the root causes and determine appropriate remedial actions which are then monitored for effectiveness. This process promotes collaboration between employee work groups and management for the early identification of hazards and to maintain a proactive approach regarding safety concerns and corrective action recommendations.

The ATO, in cooperation with its employee labor organizations, has established a voluntary safety reporting program called the Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP) for Controllers and Other Employees. ATSAP is modeled after the very successful Aviation Safety Action Programs (ASAP) used in the aviation industry. Over sixty-nine (69) aviation companies have operating ASAP programs. ASAP can be traced back to the early 1970s and a voluntary safety reporting program at United Airlines. ASAPs use employee input to identify significant safety concerns and issues; operational deficiencies; non-compliance with regulations; deviations from company policies and procedures; and unusual safety events. In partnership with each participating aviation organization, employee labor organizations, and the FAA, each ASAP report is investigated and corrective actions determined based on a non-disciplinary approach to improving safety.

ATSAP is modeled after the airlines ASAP (Aviation Safety Action Program). The program is non-punitive, and serves as one leg of a good Safety Management System program. ATSAP also helps develop a strong safety culture. The intent is to identify and report all events that may or did lead to a breakdown in safety, or increase risk to our operation. If we want to mitigate all safety risks, we need to identify and study the thousands of unreported events that may reveal the one critical safety event that could result in disaster. ATSAP reporting must be, and per the MOU, is non-punitive. An employee cannot be decertified nor can any credentialing action take place if an employee reports an event to the ATSAP program. ATSAP provides a systematic approach for Controllers, Airway Transportation System Specialists, and Other Employees to promptly identify and report potential safety hazards. Through self-reporting of safety events and cooperative follow-up, appropriate actions can be taken to improve flight safety.

ATSAP will provide safety data that would otherwise never see the light of day without voluntary participation. For personnel involved in a safety event, even a serious one, the program promises the response to reports will be both non-punitive and non-disciplinary. Names are not important, events are. Employees who participate in the program will be provided feedback on actions taken to correct safety threats. Any strong safety culture must be a reporting culture. Any effective reporting culture must be a just culture. By moving beyond a reliance on reactive behaviors, the program and its participants become part of proactive solutions that mitigate risk in advance.