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

Understanding What Aviation Safety Culture Is

“Safety culture” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in aviation safety management systems (SMS) as a vague reference to different aspects of safety.

Not So Obvious

The line between reactive and proactive safety workplaces is unfortunately not as concrete as anyone would like. If it were so obvious, many organizations would be far less reactive.

Certification vs. Qualification

Last year my wife went to the dentist to have a filling put into one of her teeth. She had severe pain for several days, went back to the dentist, and found out that he had put the filling in backward.

What Is an Acceptable Level of Safety (ALoS)

The objective of aviation safety management systems (SMS) is to

1. Proactively manage safety,
2. Identify and report potential safety hazards,
3. Determine risk to operational safety; and

Definition of Hazard Identification

Hazard identification in aviation SMS is the baseline performance needed for a successful safety program. It is the first element of the Safety Risk Management component of the 4 Pillars of aviation safety.

Things to Prepare for Aviation SMS Audits

There are many aviation audit checklists available online.

While these checklists offer many specific tasks you need to perform, few checklists offer a broad overview of things that airports, airlines,

Safety Benefits of Aviation Safety Management Systems

The most obvious benefits of implementing an aviation safety management system (SMS) are the marked improvements in safety.

Just to give you an idea of exactly how successful aviation SMS implementations have been,

Questions Come First in Safety Management

The unfortunate fact is that many managers in aviation safety management systems (SMS) don’t start asking serious questions until their SMS is either “stuck” or in trouble.

What Is Safety Culture in Aviation SMS

There are many possible definitions of safety culture in aviation safety management systems (SMS). Generic definitions focus on:

What Are Mandatory and Voluntary Safety Reporting Policies

Mandatory and voluntary safety reporting policies are an extremely important part of providing guidance for safety reporting in aviation safety management systems (SMS). Yet, we rarely see these policies published and communicated in aviation SMS implementations.