SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Why Passing an Aviation SMS Audit Is Critical

Over the past dozen years, an aviation SMS audit has become a necessary and commonly difficult task for:

• Airlines;
• Airports;
• Aviation maintenance organizations;
• ATC; and
• Flight schools.

Safety Managers Can Only Manage Hazards That Are Reported

Healthy aviation safety management systems (SMS) rely upon hazard reporting to reduce operational risk. High-performing safety reporting cultures receive approximately one report for every ten employees each month.

When safety managers have poor hazard reporting cultures, they have a more difficult time justifying aviation safety budgets. Furthermore, their collected data is skewed and inaccurate and basically useless for responsible decision-making.

What Is an Aviation Safety Management System (SMS)?

An aviation safety management system (SMS) has been repeatedly defined as a formal, systematic approach to managing safety, including necessary

• organizational structures,
• accountabilities,
• policies, and
• procedures.

What Is the Fuss about Management of Change?

Management of change in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is essential for managing operational or organizational change. Safety teams are typically involved in the management of change (MOC) exercises.

There is often confusion among new aviation safety managers when they are confronted with answering auditors' questions regarding MOC in their SMS. Best practices should always be reviewed when implementing your MOC workflow.

This article will briefly describe MOC and some preferred best practices.

Using Safety Key Performance Indicators in Your Aviation SMS

Most aviation safety professionals today are managing their aviation safety management systems (SMS) using automated tools. These full-featured SMS database tools allow safety managers to easily classify issues according to many criteria.

Safety managers benefit from using SMS databases because they can more easily analyze trends to bring pressing concerns to management.

The SMS Auditors Are Coming!

Aviation SMS audits are necessary to ensure aviation service providers comply with established guidelines. These established guidelines may come from:

• Clients;
• FAA;
• Transport Canada;
• EASA;
• IS-BAO;

Reactive and Proactive Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment

Aviation safety managers are tasked to ensure that the safety risks encountered at their operations are controlled to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP).

Modern aviation safety risk management includes:

• Hazard identification;
• Hazard reporting;
• Safety risk assessment; and
• Implementing appropriate control and recovery measures.

What Is a Gap Analysis Used For

Both new and experienced aviation safety professionals sometimes have to ask themselves, what is a gap analysis and why am I using it?

The first thing anyone needs to understand about a gap analysis is that it is a process used by both new aviation safety management systems (SMS) and maturing SMS. This process is used by aviation service providers to determine:

• The current state of the SMS;
• The desired state of the SMS; and

What Is Risk Assessment in SMS

Risk Assessments in aviation safety management systems (SMS) are how you qualify, quantify, and rank risk exposure for:

• Reported safety issues;
• Audit findings and concerns; and
• Risk scenarios (consequences) associated with identified hazards.

Risk assessments are absolutely central to decision-making in SMS, as all actions performed on the safety issue depend on the initial and subsequent risk assessments.

Importance Monitoring Root Causes in Aviation SMS

Monitoring the performance of aviation safety management systems (SMS) is a common activity for safety managers and upper management alike. Furthermore, in every SMS, the accountable executive is responsible for directing actions to correct substandard safety performance whenever it is detected.

How is substandard safety performance detected in your organization?

How does management know which operational areas required additional risk mitigation measures?