What is the primary purpose of Operational Risk Management (ORM) in aviation operations?

• A. To identify hazards, assess risks, and implement controls to reduce the likelihood and consequences of accidents.
• B. To maximize flight speed and efficiency.
• C. To assign blame for incidents.
• D. To document maintenance schedules.

Answer: (A)

Operational Risk Management is a proactive, systematic approach to safety that focuses on identifying hazards, assessing the risks, and implementing controls to reduce both the likelihood and consequences of accidents. In aviation, this means looking at every phase of flight and operation—planning, briefing, execution—and asking what could go wrong, how likely it is, and how severe the impact would be. Then you select and apply risk controls, such as procedures, training, checklists, or engineering changes, and monitor the remaining risk to keep it at an acceptable level. This approach emphasizes prevention and informed decision-making under real-world conditions, helping crews and organizations fly more safely.

The other options don’t fit because maximizing speed or efficiency isn’t the primary aim of ORM, though safety improvements can influence performance. Assigning blame contradicts the learning culture ORM seeks to foster. Documenting maintenance schedules is important for reliability, but ORM’s main purpose is to manage risk during operations, not just record-keeping.