Enhancing Aviation Safety: Expert Insights, Tips, and Updates from SMS-Pro

SMS' Risk Management Seldom Reaches Full Potential

Risk management processes in aviation safety management systems (SMS) offer service providers structure for:

• Hazard identification;
• Hazard reporting;
• Risk quantification;

Changes Are Delicate

The systems, procedures, and regulations of aviation service providers are as multifaceted as just about any industry in the world. We can imagine it as a house of cards, where all of the various elements lean on each other to form what we know as the aviation industry.

Poor Safety Reporting Cultures Invite Opportunities for Loss

Safety reports from aviation service providers' employees are important resources for the detection and prevention of potential safety hazards. One of the biggest challenges for aviation safety managers is to obtain safety reports from employees.

How Well Do You Understand Risk Management in Your SMS?

Aviation safety managers are tasked with managing all aspects of fully implemented aviation safety management systems (SMS). Naturally, most laypersons imagine safety managers reacting to accidents, incidents, and irregularities (issues or events) as their primary job function.

It is also probable that most managers outside the safety department

What Are the Best Practices for Establishing Safety Accountabilities?

One of the first steps in implementing an aviation safety management system (SMS) is to complete the documentation elements in the Safety Policy and Objectives component of an ICAO compliant SMS.

Please note that I said "one of the first steps." Before tackling these documentation elements, we recommend that you first:

Encourage Aviation SMS Participation

Employee apathy can cripple an aviation Safety Management System (SMS), undermining compliance with FAA Part 5 and ICAO Annex 19 and jeopardizing safety risks. For airlines, airports, MROs, and flight schools,

Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) are critical frameworks designed to enhance safety, mitigate risks, and foster a proactive safety culture within aviation organizations. However, implementing and maintaining an effective SMS often encounters resistance from employees, management, or other stakeholders.

For aviation safety managers, identifying and addressing this resistance is essential to ensure the system’s success and the organization’s safety performance. This article provides actionable tips to uncover resistance to SMS, offering practical insights to strengthen safety initiatives without relying on overused platitudes.

Aviation Safety Policy? More Than Just Empty Words...

Safety managers are commonly the invisible authors to many safety policies showcased at aviation service providers worldwide. After all, safety managers are the "supposed" subject-matter experts and the accountable executive is busy doing "accountable executive stuff."

Safety Reporting Essential to Aviation Risk Management

Timely reporting of hazards, incidents, or accidents is seen as an essential activity of aviation safety and risk management. I can safely say that without reported hazards or safety issues, there will be:

Regulatory Phrases May Pack an Incredible Punch

When I was in school, both high school and college, English composition professors would frequently remark on my ability to use very few words to say a lot.

I always took this to be a compliment, but there is a severe limitation to my writing style. From my point of view, why use ten words when one will suffice?