The main continuous improvement activities for maturing aviation safety management systems (SMS) following an ICAO compliant SMS implementation include developing:
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Key performance indicators (KPIs) in aviation safety management systems (SMS) are different than KPIs from most other industries. The differences both benefit and hurt safety management teams' ability to choose the right KPIs for their organization.
The important differences between aviation SMS KPIs and other industries are that:
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Answering the question, what is a key performance indicator, is not exactly as straightforward as it may seem.
This is because key performance indicators, known commonly as KPIs, have multiple uses in aviation safety management systems (SMS).
Most obviously, as “performance” in the name implies, KPIs are data metrics (i.e. “Indicators”) used to track “performance” in aviation SMS.
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Lagging indicators are an extremely important element of system performance monitoring in aviation safety management systems (SMS). Safety professionals and the accountable executive should become familiar with lagging indicators as these managers are responsible for regularly reviewing organizational safety performance and detecting substandard safety performance.
Lagging indicators show the historical performance of your aviation SMS implementation. They answer 3 essential questions about safety in your risk management program:
These questions can be broken down further to ask specific questions about safety performance. Understanding historical safety performance is a prerequisite for identifying underlying causes and leading indicators in your aviation SMS implementation.
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are data metrics used to track performance in aviation safety management systems (SMS). This “performance” was not intended to measure only safety, but also quality and financial performance as well.
Understanding what is a key performance indicator is an essential component of being able to identify signs of good KPIs.
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Selecting key performance indicators (KPIs) in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is neither simple nor always intuitive. In addition to being time consuming and costly, selecting and monitoring KPIs can also be a stressful experience.
Lives depend on choosing good KPIs. Your job may depend on selecting good KPIs.
Fortunately, selecting KPIs is helped by the fact that:
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Aviation safety professionals frequently email our subject matter experts (SMEs) for opinions regarding aviation safety management systems (SMS) and advice as to managing key performance indicators (KPIs). Goal setting relating to key performance indicators is also another very common thread we are asked about.
In the case that follows, I was asked:
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Lagging and leading indicators for aviation safety management systems (SMS) key performance indicators (KPIs) are often confused or misunderstood.
Even various online sources have conflicting, vague, or incomplete explanations of the difference between lagging and leading indicators.
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
Setting goals and objectives for your aviation safety management system (SMS) is a requirement, i.e., not optional.
Become accustomed to this requirement. Embrace it. Realize organizational value from this requirement and stop squandering an excellent opportunity to improve operations and show that the SMS can become the promised "profit driver."
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) measure how effectively aviation service providers are achieving key business or safety objectives. Civil aviation authorities also use KPIs to evaluate their success at reaching safety targets.
Topics: Key Performance Indicators
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