What Are Safety Benefits of SMS Software

The safety benefits of SMS software are not the primary reason a company initially decides to adopt the special, built-to-purpose software. If this were true, these companies would have acquired advanced SMS database solutions long before aviation safety management systems (SMS) became a regulatory requirement.

The reason aviation companies acquire SMS software is that their spreadsheets and in-house systems are inadequate to manage all the expected SMS documentation requirements imposed by their regulatory authorities.

If you are not familiar with expected SMS documentation requirements, you can review them here: SMS Documentation Requirements

Using aviation SMS software, this technology greatly improves the ability of all employees to improve safe operations.

While there are many benefits of SMS software, here are six crucial benefits:

1. Vastly improved data mining;
2. Instant acquisition of Industry accepted risk management processes;
3. More complex risk analysis;
4. Better data acquisition ability;
5. Significantly more risk analysis options (i.e., computer assistance); and
6. Stronger decision-making ability because much more data is available.

One of the primary ways SMS software improves safety is that software is, essentially, an aviation safety database. An aviation SMS database stores information and allows a computer to perform complex operations that would otherwise be done by a fallible human mind.

The computer’s ability to do this is, obviously, leaps and bounds ahead of a human.

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What Are Financial Benefits of SMS Software

The financial benefits of safety software are a big deal. These financial benefits will be many aviation safety managers' main argument for upgrading from a manual SMS to a software-driven SMS.

Not only does aviation SMS database software cut down on costs, but it’s rather easy to show that SMS software is NOT just another expense. Actually, it’s a money-saving tool.

The financial benefits of using the software are significant, and the margin increases as the size of a company increases. See this SMS return on investment study for more information – however here are several financial benefits of safety software:

1. Less manpower (i.e., improved payroll) needed to manage the administrative side of the program, such as data entry, generating reports, etc.;
2. Better ability to document safety-related financial data;
3. Improved report generating ability (i.e. charts, data presentation) to show to all stakeholders, such as investors;
4. Better safety performance increases return on investment for the SMS, as with fewer fines and accidents;
5. Reduced safety incidents and accidents that can be extremely costly; and
6. Improved decision-making ability allows for much less wasted time/money.

Often times, gaining support from upper management means speaking their language: show the financial incentives of safety management system software over manual SMS. As managers realize the financial benefits, there will be less resistance. Safety managers should also stress how SMS software will allow them to participate in business ventures that require an SMS, such as those required by the petroleum and forestry industries.

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What Are QMS Benefits of SMS Software

QMS and SMS go hand in hand. Quality management systems and safety management systems both mutually benefit from being integrated. Organizations that have a strict hierarchy of quality vs safety tend to struggle with a safety culture, as it subtly communicates to employees that productivity is valued more than safe behavior.

SMS software can be a valuable ally in integrating these two systems for the following reasons:

1. Automated safety training reduces training time and costs;
2. More thorough audit preparation;
3. Better audit performance;
4. Much less burden to implement quality-safety management system; and
5. Better productivity for all operations, as many repetitive, manual tasks in safety programs are mostly eliminated.

Software is designed around business logic and workflows. Adopting SMS software gives you an opportunity to adjust your existing SMS processes to integrate QMS.

What Are Administrative Benefits of SMS Software

Something that most organizations fail to grasp when they move from a manual SMS data management program to software-based SMS is just how much easier their duties and tasks will be as a result of software.

SMS software offers significant automation. If you are running a manual SMS you can easily expect to see your safety team’s efficiency double – i.e., workload cut in half.

In short, the software offers your safety team a chance to focus more on doing important duties rather than getting bogged down in repetitive administrative tasks for the following reasons:

1. Better organizational abilities;
2. Significantly less administrative data entry burden;
3. Better data security against loss and unauthorized access;
4. Faster, more efficient access to SMS data;
5. Significantly better data authorization ability, including increased transparency; and
6. More resources – and easier access to those resources – for employees.

The potential is very great, and using software now means getting started storing all safety data in a digital format. With manual programs, the ceiling is human ability.

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Last updated in October 2024.