A risk assessment is a method you use to rank the risk of safety issues. You will commonly perform risk assessments on reported safety issues and other identified hazards. Assessments are integral to helping you establish whether or not a given issue is within an Acceptable Level of Safety.
Topics: 3-Safety Assurance
Aviation safety managers are faced with particular challenges stemming from:
The problem stems from safety managers not speaking the same language as upper-level executives. Imagine dogs trying to communicate with cats.
That is right, aviation safety managers are a different species than upper management.
It is not by accident that one of the first steps in implementing an aviation safety management system (SMS) is to acquire top management support. This has repeatedly been proven as a critical step in every successful SMS! Your SMS program will not survive without it.
In this post, we'll explore some tips to earn or maintain support for your SMS and perhaps increase your aviation safety budget.
Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation
Your Safety Policy is the canon of your aviation safety program. It outlines all of the essential information anyone in your company would want to know regarding safety. It is one of the first components of your SMS that you will develop. It will be the document that you:
Topics: 1-Safety Policy
Without fail, every aviation safety manager I have met has the following attributes:
This tells me that accountable executives are appointing the correct types of employees to carry out this very important task of managing the SMS. Aviation SMS implementations are not sprints, but marathons. Every successful SMS implementation I've seen relies upon two important elements:
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Most aviation companies are profit driven. Aviation service providers attempt to provide safe services while providing a return on investment.
Many upper-level managers at smaller companies believe that safety managers don't need modern aviation safety management databases to manage ICAO SMS requirements. They may be right.
Not having an SMS database to document all SMS activities presents a problem for safety managers. Safety managers are results driven professionals and must determine how to convince upper-level managers that professionally designed software packages save time and help in protecting assets.
But do you really need professionally designed SMS database software to meet requirements?
Topics: Risk Management Software
Aviation SMS roles are used to organize different responsibilities in your aviation safety program. Each role in your SMS will have separate responsibilities. SMS roles are assigned to each of your employees.
Roles in aviation SMS are used to categorize different responsibilities of employees in your safety program. Each role in your SMS will be responsible for different areas of your SMS, including different duties to fulfill those responsibilities. SMS roles are assigned to each of your employees.
Aviation management personnel and employees who truly understand the differences between hazards, risks and different type of controls are more effective at preventing accidents and reducing costs related to preventable accidents and incidents.
Furthermore, hazards and risks are most commonly misunderstood by safety managers who need to either create or review their company's hazard and risk registers.
Can you easily tell another employee the difference between a hazard and a risk? What about the different types of control measures? Are you sure your definition and understanding are correct?
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Most aviation safety professionals today are managing their aviation safety management systems (SMS) using automated tools. These full-featured database tools allow safety managers to easily classify issues according to many criteria.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) allow upper management to measure progress on important operational elements. Without properly chosen key performance indicators, management would be buried in a mountain of data.
Safety performance indicators (SPIs) at airlines and airports are the same as KPIs. Professional risk managers in other disciplines prefer the term KPIs. How you choose
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Safety Assurance in aviation SMS is a process that helps you ensure that your SMS is functioning as designed. Safety Assurance is most closely associated with Phase 4 of SMS implementation. Implementing Phase 4 largely involves implementing the mans to:
Topics: 3-Safety Assurance
These two on-demand videos offer:
