FAA says Boeing safety environment 'inadequate and confusing'

Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration said in a new report that Boeing's safety environment is "inadequate and confusing," creating a disconnect between management and workers in charge of putting the measures into place.

In a statement, the FAA said it would "immediately begin a thorough review" of the report released Monday in order to determine the next steps for the company to take.

"We will continue to hold Boeing to the highest standard of safety and will work to ensure the company comprehensively addresses these recommendations," the FAA said.

The report said the expert panel found Boeing's safety management systems were not structured in a way that ensured that all employees understood their roles. Employees complained that the procedures and training were complex and in constant change.

"The expert panel also found a lack of awareness of safety-related metrics at all levels or the organization; employees had difficulty distinguishing the difference among various measuring methods, their purpose, and outcomes," the report said.

It also noted that there was "hesitation in reporting safety concerns for fear of retaliation" as managers were able to investigate reports within their own reporting change while also having the authorization to oversee employee performance evaluations, salary decisions promotions and disciplinary actions.

"The expert panel observed a disconnect between Boeing's senior management and other members of the organization on safety culture," the report continued. "The expert panel also observed [the] inadequate and confusing implementation of five components of a positive safety culture -reporting culture, just culture, flexible culture, learning culture and informed culture."

The expert panel also made 53 recommendations that they said would improve Boeing's safety issues within six months. The recommendations, the FAA said, concentrate on improving the climate of the company's safety culture and removing the fear of reporting problems.

Boeing issued a statement saying it will follow the recommendations.

"We've taken important steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to share their voice," Boeing said, according to NBC News. "But there is more work to do. We will carefully review the panel's assessment and learn from their findings, as we continue our comprehensive efforts to improve our safety and quality programs."

Congress ordered the review of Boeing in 2020 in the wake of a pair of Boeing 737 Max jetliner crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.

In January, the agency increased oversight of Boeing's production and manufacturing after a door panel from one of its 737-9 Max planes fell off mid-flight earlier that month.