SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Common Confusion Regarding Aviation SMS Training

Since November 2006, ICAO has mandated that aviation service providers implement formal aviation safety management systems (SMS). Among multiple operators that we have worked with, there has been confusion about:

• Who should participate in the aviation SMS;
• Who should receive SMS training; 
• When must this training be delivered to employees;
• What topics must be covered in the SMS training;
• How often must SMS training be delivered to employees;
• What are the bare minimum requirements for SMS training; and
• What's the easiest way to comply with the aviation SMS training requirements?

The Importance of Data in Aviation SMS

Highly functioning aviation safety management systems (SMS) always have effective data acquisition and risk management practices. This is not the case of most nascent SMS implementations.

Monitoring SMS performance and spotting safety trends are not at the forefront of most safety managers' minds as they begin their SMS implementations.

Early in this SMS implementation marathon, managers are focused on tasks that don't rely heavily on data acquisition, storage and organization. These managers rightfully begin educating themselves as to:

• What is an SMS?
• How will this aviation SMS affect our company?
• What is the structure of an SMS for a company of our size and complexity?

What Is Risk Analysis in Aviation SMS?

Unless you are new to aviation safety management systems (SMS), safety professionals recognize that the objective of aviation SMS is to:

• Proactively manage safety using documented risk management processes;
• Identify potential operational safety hazards;
• Evaluate risk;
• Implement control measures that mitigate identified risk; and
• Continuously improve operational processes.

What Is a Flight Risk Assessment Tool

A flight risk assessment tool, commonly known as FRAT, is a very important element of your SMS program.

Every flight has risks and hazards.

Using a FRAT tool helps airline SMS programs evaluate review and identify those risks. Based on this FRAT review process, safety programs can develop mitigation strategies.

How Much Risk Are You Taking On?

How much risk are you will you willing to accept?

This is one of the most critical questions that every aviation service provider needs to answer. The answer will influence every single risk management activity in the operator's aviation safety management system (SMS).

What is your risk appetite? Not surprisingly, our risk appetite changes based on a variety of factors that require constant monitoring, including:

• Competition;
• Your product or service life-cycle;
• Organization's financial situation; and
• Environmental factors, like the economy.

Why You Need to Monitor the Effectiveness of Control Measures

Control measures are the heart of your aviation safety management system’s (SMS) risk mitigation efforts. You may call your "control measures" either:

• Risk controls; or
• Simply "controls."

Winter Is Coming - Move Fatigue Upward in Hazard Register

The Northern Hemisphere is blanketed in winter, which involves, cold, ice, many long nights and grey days.

For human fatigue that means two things:

• More melatonin production
• Seasonal depression

Winter fatigue is a real, medically proven problem that affects many people.

Purpose of Continuous Improvement in Safety Assurance Pillar

In every aviation safety management system (SMS), the accountable executive is responsible for ensuring the SMS is properly implemented and performing in all areas of the organization. The intent is not for the aviation SMS to reach some ideal "plateau of safety" and then maintain the "ideal safety level." Far from it!

The purpose of the aviation SMS is to demonstrate that the organization can proactively manage safety year-after-year, audit-after-audit.

As your SMS matures, your ability to collect and analyze safety data will increase. Your safety management capabilities are expected to gradually become more sophisticated. Furthermore, SMS regulatory auditors will have higher expectations of your SMS as more data has been collected, or should have been collected.

How will you react to these demands to demonstrate continuous improvement?

Safety Promotion as an Aviation SMS Pillar

Since November 2006, ICAO mandated that aviation service providers implement formal aviation safety management systems (SMS). The objective of the aviation SMS is to:

• Proactively manage safety,
• Identify potential hazards,
• Determine operational risk, and
• Implement risk control measures; 
• Continuously monitor system for hazards; and
• Demonstrate continuous improvement of the SMS.

Properly implemented aviation SMS follow the ICAO standard. The SMS structure is based on four components (or pillars) and twelve elements. The four components are:

1. Safety Policy;
2. Safety Risk Management;
3. Safety Assurance; and
4. Safety Promotion.

What is Safety Assurance in Aviation SMS

In order for an aviation safety management system (SMS) to be effective, the SMS must be monitored to provide assurance to managers and regulatory authorities that the SMS is both

• implemented correctly, and
• working as designed.

An ICAO compliant SMS is structured around four main components, which are also known as the Four Pillars. The third aviation SMS component is Safety Assurance (SA). The primary purpose of safety assurance is to demonstrate the SMS remains functional and alert management of substandard safety performance. Substandard safety performance is corrected under the direction of the Accountable Executive.