SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

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

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.

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.

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;

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:

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:

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 require additional risk mitigation measures?

Why Review Safety Policy & Objectives in Aviation SMS Programs?

Aviation safety managers share many common traits, including:

• detail oriented;
• hard driven;
• professional;
• self-starters (high initiative); and
• good communicators.

Definition of Safety Culture in Aviation Risk Management

Safety culture in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is usually defined as being the safety attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and values of employees in an organization. Unfortunately, such a high-level, conceptual definition of safety culture does not help safety manager address core personnel challenges in your organization's SMS.

In much of the SMS guidance material pushed out by regulatory agencies and standards-setting bodies, such as ICAO's document 9859 Safety Management Manual,