SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Why KPI Charts Matter

The main continuous improvement activities for maturing aviation safety management systems (SMS) following an ICAO compliant SMS implementation include developing:

• key safety performance indicators (KPIs); and
• safety goal and objectives tied to KPIs.

Since KPIs are set to track safety goals and objectives, KPIs are a big deal. They are generally associated with the baseline or core performance of an aviation SMS. Choosing great aviation SMS KPIs takes

• time,
• experience, and
• hunches by safety mangers.

Once KPIs have been chosen, monitored KPI data can become a powerful visual tool for demonstrating historical SMS performance.

What Change Management Is in Safety Management Systems

Change management in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is an extremely important topic. Formal processes to manage change have become important not just for safety performance, but also for demonstrating to SMS auditors that your company knows how to formally manage change as your operations are exposed to changing environmental conditions.

You can bet that poorly managed or documented change management processes will result in an audit finding. The reason is that change management:

• Demonstrates your understanding of the steps in the Safety Risk Management process;
• Shows the quality of your risk analysis activities;
• Validates your ability to document required SMS activities; and
• Bridges the gap between Safety Risk Management and Safety Assurance processes.

Aviation SMS Success Dependent on Safety Culture

Whether safety professionals or upper management like it or not, a successful aviation safety management system (SMS) is dependent on safety culture. This fact hold true for every aviation industry segment, including:

• airlines;
• airports;
• maintenance organizations, etc.

Your company can have the best risk management processes and the most expensive aviation SMS database, but when your safety culture does not support the organization's SMS initiative, your company will never realize the full benefits of an aviation SMS. Furthermore, risk is not being managed properly.

Does this bear repeating? Unless you have a positive, trusting safety culture, you will be wasting a significant portion of your SMS investment. Money will be left laying on the table and management will miss out on the promised benefits of the aviation SMS.

With this in mind, how do you know whether your safety culture is either improving or in a slowly imperceptible decline?

Reporting Safety Hazards Is Not Enough?

For most aviation service providers, the simple act of getting employees to report potential safety hazards is a constant challenge.

Expectations of the majority of employees are:

• Showing up to work (on-time in some cultures);
• Collecting the paycheck (on-time is preferable); and
• Expecting employers to provide a safe workplace.

However, every employee has a responsibility to ensure operations remain safe for all stakeholders.

Is hazard identification and hazard reporting enough to ask from employees as they participate in your organization's safety initiatives?

What else should employees be doing for your required aviation safety management system (SMS)?

Without the support of all employees, the aviation SMS will never reach its full potential. Money will be left on the table - meaning that every successful SMS is dependent on safety culture and employee participation. 

The raw ingredients in an aviation SMS come predominantly from safety reporting and audit activities. Employees are instrumental for providing these inputs by participating in effective safety reporting activities. Without employee participation, the organization can still have an SMS; however, the organization will never benefit fully from reduced risk and missed opportunities.

How Do You Talk About Aviation Safety Risk Management

Aviation safety managers have jobs that others may find unrewarding, or difficult for them to witness results. The safety manager may spend years performing routine "safety manager stuff," while others may wonder: "just what do you do around here?"

Plan Continuation Bias for the Layman

Several years ago NASA analyzed pilots' actions from 19 airline accidents from the viewpoint of "real-time" - i.e. during the flight and without hindsight bias. NASA found that the primary cause of the accidents was something they called "plan continuation bias."

For those of you who aren't unfamiliar with this concept, the premise is this: when you have "someplace to get to" you tend to ignore your environment.

What Is Predictive Risk Management?

In aviation safety management systems (SMS), risk management professionals toss around three common terms:

• reactive risk management;
• proactive risk management; and
• predictive risk management.

Auditing Compels Operators to Adopt Better Aviation SMS

Aviation quality and compliance auditors use auditing software to measure compliance and to track corrective actions. IATA's IOSA program is a very good program to steer airlines toward an ICAO compliant safety management systems (SMS).

Quality, safety, and environmental management systems share many common elements and requirements. In fact, requirements for safety management systems have evolved from the quality management systems (QMS).

Looking at the two systems, one cannot but agree that SMS didn't evolve independently, but the framework was modeled after quality management systems.

Benefits of Automated SMS Training for Initial and Recurrent Training Requirements

During the implementation of formal aviation safety management systems (SMS), service providers are expected to develop and deliver SMS training to employees in every implementation phase except the first phase. For example:

• Phase II: Deliver training relevant to reactive risk management processes;
• Phase III: Deliver training relevant to reactive risk management processes; and
• Phase IV: Develop training relevant to operational safety assurance.

Most Important Items for Starting SMS Implementation

If you are reading this article, chances are that you either already have started implementing an aviation safety management system (SMS), or you are considering an SMS implementation.