Bristow's Bill Chiles receives Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award

Chiles (right) was praised for his leadership to establish industry wide safety protocols across the helicopter offshore transportation industry.

“Bill’s vision to incorporate safety initiatives into all systems and processes changed everyday practices throughout our global organisation and promoted a laser-focused culture of safety with our innovative Target Zero program, unifying our company around our core value of safety,” said Jonathan Baliff, president and chief executive officer, Bristow Group, Inc. “His passion for safety is renowned in the industry.

“Under Bill’s leadership, five of the world’s largest offshore helicopter operators recently formed HeliOffshore, the first global offshore helicopter industry association, with the goal of improving flight safety and technical competence across the world. Bill will serve as the organization’s first chairman. We are proud of his accomplishments and are grateful that we will continue to benefit from his passion for safety and dedication to our industry and clients,” added Baliff.

“I am honoured to receive such distinguished recognition from my peers,” said Chiles. “It is our responsibility to return every single passenger safely home, every single time. We will continue to improve the safety record for the offshore flying community as we collaborate to share best practices with one another,” he said.

Believing that safety is everyone’s responsibility, Bristow developed Target Zero to create a culture of safety at every level of the company. The program’s goals are founded on the beliefs that accidents are preventable, injuries to employees and others are avoidable and harm to the environment is intolerable. Target Zero encourages all employees to proactively practice safety and take action to mitigate risks. Bristow’s Target Zero culture of safety has been recognized by numerous organisations around the world and remains a core value of the company.