| dc.description.abstract | The study set out to investigate the factors influencing aviation safety; the case of Kenya
Civil Aviation Authority which is Kenya‟s aviation regulatory body. The research objectives
were to establish the extent to which personnel professional qualifications, financial
resources, aviation infrastructure and technical guidance material influences aviation safety
in Kenya. The target population of the study was employees of the Kenya Civil Aviation
Authority (KCAA) and more specifically safety oversight inspectors numbering fifty six (56)
and all based at the KCAA headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. A census approach was used as
the researcher was interested in collecting data from every member of the target population.
Data was collected using a questionnaire focusing on the research objectives, and collected
after a week from the target population. The questionnaire was constructed using structured
and unstructured questions. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used as tools of
evaluation in the data analysis. The findings were analyzed by mean scores, standard
deviation, correlation co-efficiency and linear regression analysis using SPSS Ver. 20. The
findings were presented using Tables. The study established that personnel professional
qualifications have a major effect on aviation safety as the KCAA had inadequate qualified
safety oversight inspectors and technical safety staff. The study also revealed that the
percentage of training execution in the organization was low as the organization appeared
inadequately committed towards staff development. The recruitment and retention policies
were found to be inadequate which in turn affected the safety oversight officers‟ morale and
subsequently compromising the overall safety of the industry. Further findings indicated that
the organization had put mechanisms in place to ensure financial sustainability which is
commendable. From the correlation analysis it was noted that safety technical guidance
material had the highest predictor value with a correlation value of 0.590, followed by
financial resources having a positive correlation value of 0.410 while aviation infrastructure
had a correlation value of 0.303. The smallest predictor of aviation safety was personnel
professional qualifications with a correlation value of 0.257. The study concludes that
mechanisms in place to ensure financial sustainability have a positive effect on aviation
safety as the organization has financial reserves that can be used in the event of a crisis. The
study concludes as well that personnel professional qualifications are a major contributor of
aviation safety due to the fact that the aviation industry is technical based with rapidly
changing technologies, applications and emerging issues. Recruitment and retention policies
need to be prioritized in order to attract the appropriate personnel based on the organizational
needs. It is recommended that approved revisions to Technical Guidance Material be
implemented within the shortest period possible to ensure efficiency. The KCAA should also
initiate a motivation and retention programme in order to curb the migration of personnel to
other States and industries. The study further recommends that KCAA should carry out a
needs assessment analysis of its technical and safety oversight personnel in order to come up
with strategies to bridge the human resource gap. It also recommends that the airport safety
zones should be clearly demarcated and communicated to the national and county
governments through the Ministry of Lands as well as the Ministry of Transport and
Infrastructure in order to stop further developments and clear illegal developments along the
airports as they compromise civil aviation safety. | en_US |
