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

What Is Safety Risk Management in Aviation SMS?

Depending on the context and your educational background, safety risk management in aviation safety management systems (SMS) can mean a couple of different things:

1. Second component of ICAO's four pillars; and

Stages of Safety Events With FAA vs. Others

Regulatory oversight agencies in various countries/regions possess inconsistent definitions for:

• hazards,
• risks, and

Safety Survey Benefits Run Deep

Surveys seem a bit old-fashioned. That’s probably because they are.

Surveys have been around and popular for years. Safety surveys have many uses besides getting the opinions of the workforce.

Why KPI Charts Matter

The main continuous improvement activities for maturing aviation safety management systems (SMS) following an ICAO-compliant SMS implementation include developing:

• key safety performance indicators (KPIs); and
• safety goal and objectives tied to KPIs.

What Change Management Is in Safety Management Systems

Change management in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is an extremely important topic. Formal processes to manage change have become important not just for safety performance, but also for demonstrating to SMS auditors that your company knows how to formally manage change as your operations are exposed to changing environmental conditions.

How Do You Talk About Aviation Safety Risk Management

Aviation safety managers have jobs that others may find unrewarding, or difficult for them to witness results. The safety manager may spend years performing routine "safety manager stuff," while others may wonder: "just what do you do around here?"

Managing safety is similar to managing security. The job is often a thankless one. Safety managers don't get the daily slap on the back or hear much rewarding praise.

Plan Continuation Bias for the Layman

Several years ago NASA analyzed pilots' actions from 19 airline accidents from the viewpoint of "real-time" - i.e. during the flight and without hindsight bias. NASA found that the primary cause of the accidents was something they called "plan continuation bias."

For those of you who aren't unfamiliar with this concept, the premise is this: when you have "someplace to get to" you tend to ignore your environment.

What Is Predictive Risk Management?

In aviation safety management systems (SMS), risk management professionals toss around three common terms:

• reactive risk management;
• proactive risk management; and
• predictive risk management.

Benefits of Automated SMS Training for Initial and Recurrent Training Requirements

During the implementation of formal aviation safety management systems (SMS), service providers are expected to develop and deliver SMS training to employees in every implementation phase except the first phase. For example:

• Phase II: Deliver training relevant to reactive risk management processes;

Cyber Security in Aviation SMS Data Management

Technology has made aviation safety management systems (SMS) much easier to manage as a whole. Furthermore, this formal, structured approach to managing safety has undeniably contributed to system safety.

Technology is wonderful. It has been changing our lives at an unprecedented rate,