SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Aviation Safety Software Prioritizes Safety

Most of us have experienced the following: sitting on the runway for over an hour wondering why the plane isn’t moving. The pilot has already apologized and given the “reason” for the delay: the daunting and nebulous “technical difficulties.”

For passengers, this type of situation is frustrating at best, and at worst unnerving, even scary.

Yet even when sitting on the tarmac, frustrated and confused, passengers should take comfort in the fact that the aviation industry takes countless precautions to keep passengers safe.

The fact is that above all else, our top priority is safety and safety managers have an excellent opportunity to not only contribute to safety, and SMS requirements, but also to the financial bottom line.

Safety Reporting Essential to Aviation Risk Management

Timely reporting of hazards, incidents or accidents is seen as an essential activity of aviation safety and risk management. I can safely say that without reported hazards or safety issues, there will be:

• little operational improvement and a
• needless waste of resources.

Without an effective hazard/safety reporting culture, there is no way that any aviation service provider can demonstrate continuous improvement to their aviation safety management system (SMS).

Why This Aviation Safety Chart Is Important

Having "real time" safety charts saves aviation safety managers, executives, and employees a lot of work and keeps them informed of the latest hazard and risks affecting aviation-centric operations.

Having access to real-time safety charts allows management to monitor your SMS program at a glance, rather than having to navigate through your software or aviation safety database to find desired information. Over longer periods of time, this saved time and energy adds up to substantial sums, especially when you consider:

• Potential losses avoided;
• Time generating reports;
• Time validating report information; and 
• Time spent communicating information to stakeholders.

Knowing Who Is Involved in Your Aviation SMS

Top management requires that all personnel must participate in the safety management system (SMS) program. Wishes and reality are two different ideas and the reality is that most employees don't care about the company's safety program.

Management needs tools to offer assurance that "employees are actually involved in their SMS program."

Are Aviation SMS Software Programs Necessary?

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 aviation safety management systems (SMS) documentation requirements.

They may be right. Not every company should buy these SMS tools.

Aviation Safety Managers Need SMS Management Tools

Safety managers are resourceful professionals. Their respective companies demand that they provide results on extremely limited budgets. Many times a safety manager is appointed without adequate training. In these cases, safety managers are kicked into the deep end of the swimming pool.

Sink or swim, safety manager.

Most often, the accountable executive doesn't understand all the documentation requirements in an aviation safety management system (SMS). Top management seldom gets into the weeds. It is up to safety managers to educate accountable executives what is required in the SMS unless they have been fortunate enough to have taken SMS training for executives.

Why Use Hazard Reporting Forms in Aviation Safety Programs?

What Is Aviation Safety Software?

For over a dozen years, the majority of commercial aviation service providers around the world have been working towards compliance with ICAO's aviation safety management system (SMS) guidelines.

Transport Canada's SMS, as well as the Australia Civil Aviation Safety Authority's SMS, are world leaders in their SMS implementations and enforcement of ICAO's SMS guidelines.

Safety professionals around the world can learn some very valuable lessons from those that have already implemented aviation SMS. We have seen an evolution from using readily available in-house software tools to the adoption of commercially available, low cost aviation SMS software.

Safety Manager Dilemma: Deciding Which SMS Software Solution?

Modern aviation Safety Management System (SMS) database software provides

• safety reporting system;
• full-featured investigation tools;
• corrective and preventive action tracking;
• proactive hazard analysis;
• hazard register;
• auditing system;
• risk management processes; and
• much more to address SMS documentation requirements.

Safety managers are not data management experts. So how does a safety manager determine which aviation SMS software will achieve organizational goals without breaking the bank?

Common Dilemma about Aviation Safety Budgets

We have heard it time and again. Upper management has allocated insufficient funds for the safety department. This is a universal challenge for all aviation safety managers.

"Do more with less" seems to be a worn-out phrase that safety departments continue to hear.

How was the safety budget last year? Sufficient? Barely enough to pay for salaries? No room for training budgets or tools to improve efficiencies?

Just imagine what you could do with a bigger safety budget?

• Provide more SMS training;
• Purchase better safety promotion materials;
• Acquire SMS tools to manage SMS documentation requirements?