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

Root Human Factors and Symptomatic Human Factors

The Dirty Dozen Human Factors in aviation safety management systems (SMS) are not isolated factors.

They are an interwoven set of human actions that influence each other. And they are not all created equal.

Be Aware of Your Aviation Safety Management Myths

Awareness is a great weapon for overcoming problems in aviation safety management systems (SMS). When aviation safety managers try to implement an aviation SMS while at the same time clinging to myths:

• People get hurt;
• The company loses money; and
• The SMS makes no progress.

Pros and Cons of Prescriptive vs Performance Based SMS

Performance vs prescriptive based approaches to aviation safety management systems (SMS) is and will increasingly be a hot topic in the aviation industry for years to come.

As it should be.

Decentralization of Information

Transparency boils down to a very simple issue: information.

Specifically, control over and access to information. As I have said before, it’s a hot topic these days.

Overview of SMS History

It’s easy to forget just how young aviation safety management systems (SMS) are as their own defined entity. Aviation SMS has truly changed the aviation landscape,

A Dependable Problem

We end up writing about resistance to change rather often because we see it often.

Resistance to change is a rather significant problem every aviation safety management system (SMS) implementation deals with.

Transparency Is a Hot Topic

Many of the major news headlines in the last few years have circled issues of transparency. From major corporations to our government, practices of secrecy always come back to bite management in their tender spots.

Aviation organizations that practice transparency tend to send a message of "non-corruption".

Safety Culture Bridges Gap between Promotion and Outcomes

A recent post about four pillars of safety in aviation discussed in part the end goal of aviation safety management systems (SMS). This aviation safety blog post drew a couple of interesting comments regarding the relationship between

1 - What Are Aviation SMS Human Factors

Human Factors in aviation SMS identify the motivating factors behind common human behaviors that pose risk.

For example, Fatigue is a common Human Factor that hinders one’s ability to make good decisions, perform common tasks, and identify hazards – all of which pose risks to a program.

Identifying Mistakes Aviation SMS Implementations

Successful aviation safety programs are self-conscious. That is, safety management teams are extremely sensitive to potential pitfalls and work hard to avoid needless mistakes.

Of course, in the real-world practice of safety management,