The International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, was founded in 1944. It's a United Nations specialized agency that establishes international standards for civil aviation.
Of the 195 recognized countries in the world today, 192 are ICAO member states. These 192 'contracting states' abide by the Chicago Convention regulations.
Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation
Proactive and predictive risk management are difficult to separate. Proactive risk management identifies safety concerns before events occur. Predictive risk management aims to predict future risk based on past performance data.
Predictive risk management is a blending of reactive and proactive strategies. Safety teams can uncover potential risks by examining data and making predictions.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
KPIs, or key performance indicators, track performance in business, quality, and safety. Understanding and using KPIs is a crucial part of SMS.
SMS can track hundreds of data points, especially when using advanced SMS software. Use data tied to objectives and goals to get the most from your KPIs.
Topics: Key Performance Indicators, 2-Safety Risk Management
It's very important to review SMS Manuals.
The most common audit finding is that the operator is not conducting operations as stated in their SMS manual.
Topics: 1-Safety Policy
You’re probably familiar with the 4 Phases of SMS implementation outlined by ICAO 9859. Here, I’ll break them down another way, into 7 steps.
Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation
Teamwork is a word used often in the workplace. We’ve all heard that it’s important to work together. Why cover the same ground again?
Lack of teamwork can have serious safety consequences. In aviation, our jobs affect others. Even when we seem to be working on our own, our work ties into other parts of the operation.
Topics: Human Factors
ICAO and civil aviation authorities require SMS for many organizations. Even so, it's important to have buy-in from top management to make your SMS effective.
Topics: 1-Safety Policy
As a safety manager, the implementation plan is your road-map to success, but finding guidance on how to create one is difficult at best.
The FAA doesn't provide an implementation plan for the latest Part 5 regulations, but there is an implementation plan suggested by ICAO 9859.
ICAO recommends a 5-year plan with 4 phases of implementation, but this plan may not work well for small organizations, or those with many elements already in place.
RELATED: How to Implement SMS in Small Organizations
The 4 phase plan can be pretty overwhelming at first. Remind yourself that a complete SMS implementation may take years; you're planning a long-term project. Your implementation plan is the document that guides your organization through this process.
Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation
In many of today's articles about aviation safety management systems, there is something about safety culture. Why? Safety culture ties into every part of your SMS, feeding it as your SMS nurtures your safety culture in return.
It’s a symbiotic relationship, like honeybees and flowers. Each one needs the other to grow and thrive. When your safety culture thrives, your SMS is easier to build and maintain.
Topics: Safety Culture
ICAO requires an SMS manual for many aviation organizations required to abide by their SMS mandate. It is very tempting to gloss over your manual...to get it out of the way and never look at it again.
Manuals aren't sexy, and most of the time, they're boring at best. I've read a lot of manuals that were downright painful.
These two on-demand videos offer:
