SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

What Is Safety Communication in Aviation SMS

Safety communication in aviation SMS is simply another way of sharing data.

Safety communication IS data sharing. This data sharing happens in several ways:

• Sharing data with compliance authorities;
• Sharing data with other service providers; and
• Sharing data with employees and contractors.

What Is Transparency in Aviation SMS

Transparency in aviation safety management is concerned with what types information various employee roles have in your company. By “types of information” we are mostly talking about safety concerns that are discovered through hazard reports, audits, etc.

To be clear, your stance on transparency will clearly outline:

• What types of information different safety roles/responsibilities have access to; and
• How much access each role has to those types of information.

What Is Risk Tolerance

Risk tolerance is simply how much risk you are willing to accept in a given activity, task, situation, etc.

High-risk tolerance is not good.

Low-risk tolerance is good, as it means that people will only allow a limited amount of risky behavior. No more risk should be tolerated than necessary for completing a task.

On a system level, the risk tolerance that your SMS practices called Acceptable Level of Safety.

What Is Safety Culture in Aviation SMS

Aviation safety cultures are the attitudes, behaviors, and actions that drive safety performance in your SMS.

Safety culture includes how management supports safety, and what front-line employees do when no one is watching.

There are different aspects of safety culture that, together, represent the overall safety culture of an organization:

• Commitment of program to safety;
• Safety behavior in SMS;

Why Social Psychology of Risk Is Important

Social psychology plays a tremendously important role in safe operations. In fact, it may play the most important role in safety outcomes. Safety performance in your aviation safety program will hinge on your ability to create a climate of positive social psychology through:

• Safety Policy;
• Safety Promotion; and
• SMS design (Safety Risk Management).

What Are Main Challenges With Aviation SMS Participation

Many often complain about how difficult it is to get full participation for their aviation safety management system. However, it doesn’t have to be difficult. Members of your organization will need much less coaxing to participate in your aviation safety program by making your program:

• inclusive,
• interactive, and
• effective.

Important Questions for Safety Culture

This New Year’s celebration was filled with pride for the aviation industry because we heard that 2017 was the safest year on record for commercial air travel. The following week, news about the grounding of two senior pilots of a London-Mumbai flight surfaced in the headlines because of a fight in the cockpit, and subsequently, both came out of the cockpit, leaving the aircraft unmanned.

Expert discussion threads on social media surrounding this incident were filled with anger and many of them blamed cultural factors, although the exact cause of the incident is still unknown to us.