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.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
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.
Topics: 1-Safety Policy
In aviation safety management systems (SMS), risk management professionals toss around three common terms:
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
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:
Topics: Risk Management Training
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,
Topics: 3-Safety Assurance
In aviation safety management systems (SMS), the best indicator of a highly performant safety culture isn’t one that has reduced operational risk close to zero, but one that readily adapts to and absorbs safety issues and disturbances as they arise.
In so many words, high-performing aviation SMS is simply able to adjust to instability rather than resist or deflect it. In other words: goes with the flow without any setbacks.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
The process of aviation safety management systems (SMS), simply put, is the conglomeration of many small actions on the part of safety management teams, operational managers and employees.
Actions such as:
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Every person in a company should be concerned if their aviation safety management system (SMS) management is efficient and working as designed.
Management efficiency in aviation SMS implementations has significant stakes for everyone in the organization, as well as customers who use the company’s services.
Topics: 3-Safety Assurance
Confidence in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is trust that the SMS implementation fulfills its obligations. The obligations of SMS include, of course, safety. But they don’t just include safety. The fact is that aviation SMS implementations that set out to only satisfy good-looking safety data or regulatory compliance will plateau or even implode before long.
Topics: 3-Safety Assurance
Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) often get mired in bureaucracy—policies, procedures, and documentation can overshadow the human element critical to safety. The Federal Aviation Administration notes that human factors drive 70% of incidents, underscoring the need for engaged safety cultures.
While ICAO Annex 19 and FAA Part 5 mandate structured processes, creativity and adaptability are key to making SMS vibrant and effective. SMS Pro’s aviation SMS software empowers operators with tools like gamified reporting, interactive training, and flexible workflows to breathe life into implementations.
Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation
These two on-demand videos offer:
