SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Cloud-Based Aviation SMS May Make Sound Business Sense

Have you been considering the risks of moving your aviation safety management system (SMS) up to the cloud? In the past ten years, many aviation service providers have been moving their SMS data to the cloud for various reasons, but most make sound economic and business sense.

Oversight Agencies Need to Support Risk Management Software

Something we hear about all time is the general lack of support from regulatory oversight agencies during inspections and audits. This lack of support that safety managers complain about regards the usage of risk management software in audits that aviation service providers use daily to manage their required safety management systems (SMS). 

I don't mean to imply that agencies like the FAA, Transport Canada, or EASA are against operators using risk management software by any means, but during audits and inspections, safety inspectors are often unwilling to determine an operator's SMS compliance by logging in and verifying compliance with the service provider's risk management software. These recalcitrant safety inspectors still adhere to the old way of doing things, such as:

• Printed reports;
• Extensive interviews;
• Binders filled with historical SMS documentation activities; and
• Original paper documentation.

Requiring reams of paper-based reports puts significantly more stress and work on aviation service providers to demonstrate SMS compliance. Safety personnel have enough to do without worrying about transferring a significant amount of data from a computer to a paper-stuffed binder. In short, the demands of many safety inspectors contributes to inefficiencies meant to be solved by modern technology.

Vendors as Part of Aviation SMS Initiatives

Aviation safety managers, especially at larger airlines and airports have considerable work to perform, including:

Legacy Safety Reporting Systems Increase Auditing & Financial Risk

Aviation safety managers commonly tell me that audits become much less painful after switching over to their new aviation safety management system (SMS) database software.

This doesn't mean that their company always passes audits without findings, but auditors love that all SMS documentation requirements are managed within one centralized data management system instead of being scattered around in:

Why Overdue Items Safety Chart Is Important

No aviation safety program is perfect.

Safety issues, corrective and preventive actions will inevitably “fall through the cracks” and become overdue while being managed. Problems arise when safety issues and other safety items fall critically behind. This exposes an organization to:

What Is a Fishbone Diagram for Aviation Safety Programs

Fishbone diagrams are a lesser known but very effective risk management tool in aviation safety management systems (SMS).

Fishbone diagrams get their name because of their fish-like appearance, with several fins and a head. Each “fin” or “branch” of a fishbone diagram describes a different element of the safety issue, such as “Man” and “Machine.” The head describes the Top Event (also known as Risk Event, the point at which safety control is lost).

Why #Policies Involved In Issues Charts Matter for Your Aviation SMS

Operational policies and procedures are the bureaucratic backbone to the success of every organization. The policies and procedures are the recipe, or secret sauce that your company uses to deliver its product or service.

Which Safety Charts Help Accountable Executives the Most?

In aviation safety management systems (SMS), the accountable executive is responsible for ensuring their SMS is both:

• implemented according to regulatory standards; and
• performing in all areas of the organization.

Everyone Understands Hazard Reporting

Every aviation safety professional has heard of a "hazard reporting system" in regards to aviation safety management systems (SMS). You may call your hazard reporting system by another name, such as safety reporting system, but the purpose of the system remains the same: allow stakeholders to communicate safety information to safety teams which will use the information to manage risk.

Why This Aviation SMS Implementation Chart Is Important

As you probably already well know, implementing aviation safety management systems (SMS) is a big deal for most aviation service providers around the world – both in terms of accounting for all of an SMS' moving parts, as well as trying to get all of the moving parts moving in the direction of progress.