Spreadsheet-based safety programs are incredibly common. Many of you reading this use spreadsheets to manage your SMS activities, such as documenting:
Electronic spreadsheets are a legacy of a time after the advent of computers. How many of you remember Lotus 1-2-3? Yes, this was a DOS-based spreadsheet, but it sure beats paper! Then Microsoft Windows came along and MS Excel offered a major improvement in managing lists on paper. MS Excel became very common in business operations and, naturally, they found use in tracking safety activities.
Now, with software in the form of integrated SMS database software and SMS point solutions, spreadsheets are falling further and further behind the sophisticated functionality of such software.
The main things spreadsheets can’t do are:
The end result is that spreadsheets are significantly more labor intensive and yet much less effective for SMS management than database software solutions. Here are the 5 main things spreadsheets can’t do for your SMS.
How much time do you spend trying to monitor the performance of your SMS? This includes things like:
If you are running a spreadsheet-based SMS, performing these tasks takes a long time, and sucks up a great deal of manpower. Hence, we see that nearly all spreadsheet-based SMS either:
Furthermore, creating reports based on performance metrics requires detailed knowledge of the spreadsheet program you are using. Point solutions and aviation safety software solve these problems by:
Metadata provides extremely valuable context to your safety data and opens up a whole new level of:
Trying to capture metadata, let alone make sense of it for meaningful Safety Assurance operations, is extremely difficult (and often impossible) in spreadsheet-based aviation safety management systems. Metadata would include important information like:
There are many more types of metadata, but these are just some examples that provide you with an idea of the kinds of things that are difficult or impossible to capture with manual, spreadsheet-based SMS. Timestamps are an interesting point if you wish to track how responsive your SMS is when employees report an issue. How long does it take, on average to:
These data points are useful for setting goals and objectives that assist your company to demonstrate "continuous improvement" of the SMS. For those of you who are not die-hard safety managers, "Continuous improvement of the SMS" is the third element of the "Safety Assurance" component of an SMS.
As discussed, complex data analysis is simply not feasible with spreadsheets for several logical reasons:
Point solutions and SMS database software automate this process via:
For smaller safety programs, having limited data analysis isn’t a big deal because the amount of total data is small. As an aviation safety program scales in size, so too does the need for more complex data analysis activities. Spreadsheets are the wrong technology to manage an SMS if your company is larger than 50 employees. For this, you will need SMS database software to reduce the risk of an "unsustainable" SMS.
If you have doubts, consider all the documentation requirements for an aviation SMS. They will include, but are not limited to:
As you can see, this partial list of expected documentation will make even the most cynical safety manager reconsider using spreadsheets instead of databases. A low-cost, commercially available aviation SMS database will save considerable grief and reduce risk to the SMS.
The inability to integrate your safety management system is without question one of the primary disadvantages of spreadsheet-based safety programs. An integrated SMS is one that ties together different parts of the system in meaningful ways, such as:
With spreadsheets, you are essentially limited to having a spreadsheet perform only one meaningful task. Trying to manage the many moving parts of an SMS in spreadsheets requires an unrealistic amount of effort in such systems. This is why spreadsheet-based safety programs usually only have a handful of spreadsheets to document core operations.
With aviation safety management software, all pieces of the system are integrated together, communicate with each other, and document all aspects of your SMS.
To take this further, if you have ambitions to integrate your quality management system (QMS) into your SMS, then spreadsheets will only set you back. When you integrate the QMS into the SMS, your data gathering and storage requirements naturally increase.
From a technical standpoint, spreadsheets lack any meaningful data access security. Either you have access to a spreadsheet or you don’t. If you do have access, you can see all the data that are in the spreadsheet.
Point solutions and safety database software usually have highly configurable security protocols for data access, such as:
This is meaningful on a system-by-system basis, such as your risk management system or meeting management system. But taken as a whole, you can provide secure access that, on a global level, is entirely custom fit to:
Role-based security allows you to protect sensitive information from roles in your company that you don’t want to see.
Full disclosure here: I am a database engineer. I design commercial databases, including databases to manage aviation SMS requirements. I also provide spreadsheet consulting services to anyone needing a coach, mentor, or programmer to assist.
To get to the point: I am an IT professional who understands both technologies. I am also an SMS professional with more than a dozen years of developing SMS database software; therefore, I understand the data requirements for successful aviation SMS. It is my professional opinion that spreadsheets are the wrong technology to completely manage your SMS.
Smaller companies do not have the IT resources or subject matter expertise to develop an SMS database, much less support the database for many years as SMS requirements change. It is more cost-effective to subscribe to commercially available SMS database products. If you use these systems properly, you will have fewer audit findings and less risk to your operating certificate.
Final words: Don't rely on spreadsheets to manage your SMS. An SMS database is the correct technology for successful SMS.
Last updated July 2024.