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Tyler Britton

350,000 words and counting on safety risk management concepts, guidance, tools, and best practices.

Recent Posts

4 Elements of Safety Risk Management (SRM)

Posted by Tyler Britton on Jun 7, 2023 6:00:00 AM

Elements of Safety Risk Management (SRM)

Safety Risk Management receives by far the most attention of any aspect of aviation safety management systems (SMS). It is, as you might say, “where the action is,” in terms of managing risk and the most focused-upon element in an aviation SMS.

Despite the fact that other aspects of aviation risk management processes provide equally valuable assistance in developing an aviation SMS, SRM deals most directly with risk exposure.

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Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management

What Is a Risk Matrix and Risk Assessment in Aviation SMS

Posted by Tyler Britton on May 24, 2023 6:02:00 AM

What Is a Risk Matrix

Risk matrices are probably the inter-industry safety standard as the primary tool used in risk evaluation. In aviation safety management systems (SMS) they are ubiquitous.

Risk matrices are simplistic charts (though not necessarily “simple”) that use “probability” and “severity” to quantify the risk priority of a real or hypothetical safety scenario. The quantification is generally broken into 3 categories:

  • Acceptable risk (green);
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Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management

The 5 Risk Mitigation Strategies in Aviation SMS Programs

Posted by Tyler Britton on May 17, 2023 6:44:00 AM

What Is a Risk Mitigation Strategy in Aviation SMS Programs

The primary objective of risk mitigation strategies in aviation SMS programs is usually detailed as being a plan to implement risk controls that reduce the likelihood/severity of each identified specific risk. However, this risk mitigation plan is limited in that it does not address the mitigation of hazard occurrence.

Despite the fact that oversight agencies generally stress risk mitigation as being accident-centric, aviation SMS programs should include hazard-mitigation and risk-mitigation strategies.

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Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management

What Is the Process of Risk Management in Aviation SMS

Posted by Tyler Britton on May 10, 2023 6:00:00 AM

Aviation Risk Management Is a Cyclical Process

The phrase “aviation risk management” gives the impression of being a single, solid idea – something to attain for – but in actual practice, it is a cyclical process.

Simply put, risk management is about identifying and placing controls (i.e., strengthening) weak points in an aviation safety management system (SMS).

The understanding that risk management is cyclical is an important fact because, while the phrase "risk management" has a strong flavor of top-down management styles,

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Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management

4 Pillars | What Safety Assurance Really Means in Aviation SMS

Posted by Tyler Britton on May 3, 2023 5:59:00 AM

Definition of Aviation SMS Safety Assurance

In November 2006, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) mandated that all member states implement formal aviation safety management systems (SMS). To facilitate compliance, ICAO guided regulatory authorities and aviation service providers with the publication of the Safety Management Manual (SMM), now in the fourth edition as of 2019.

An aviation SMS implementation covers considerable territory, including, but not limited to:

  • Safety accountabilities;
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Topics: 3-Safety Assurance, Quality-Safety Management

What Is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in Aviation SMS? - With Free KPI Resources

Posted by Tyler Britton on Apr 26, 2023 6:00:00 AM

What Is a Key Performance Indicator?

Answering the question, what is a key performance indicator, is not exactly as straightforward as it may seem.

This is because key performance indicators, known commonly as KPIs, have multiple uses in aviation safety management systems (SMS).

Most obviously, as “performance” in the name implies, KPIs are data metrics (i.e. “Indicators”) used to track “performance” in aviation SMS.

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Topics: Key Performance Indicators

Signs of Good KPIs in Aviation – With Free KPI Resources

Posted by Tyler Britton on Apr 19, 2023 6:01:00 AM

What Is a Key Performance Indicator in Aviation SMS?

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are data metrics used to track performance in aviation safety management systems (SMS). This “performance” was not intended to measure only safety, but also quality and financial performance as well.

Understanding what is a key performance indicator is an essential component of being able to identify signs of good KPIs.

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Topics: Key Performance Indicators

Types of Operational Risk for Airline SMS

Posted by Tyler Britton on Apr 12, 2023 5:41:00 AM

What Is Operational Risk for Airline SMS

Operation risk is a primary concern of airline safety management systems (SMS). Just as in traditional safety programs, modern SMS implementations will revolve around identifying hazards and controlling these safety events.

In a formal aviation SMS implementation, there are two inter-connected components:

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Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management

Difference Between Reactive, Proactive and Predictive Risk Management in Aviation SMS

Posted by Tyler Britton on Apr 5, 2023 6:11:00 AM

Why You Need to Know the Difference Between Reactive, Proactive, and Predictive Risk Management

Aviation safety managers and employees who understand the real difference between reactive, predictive, and proactive risk management activities gain considerable benefit for generating good safety performance.

The fact is that these three types of risk management strategies are often misunderstood and/or confused.

Can you describe the difference?

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Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management

What's the Difference Between Hazards and Risks in Aviation SMS

Posted by Tyler Britton on Mar 22, 2023 6:02:00 AM

Most Common Misunderstanding in Aviation Risk Management

We run across this time and time again in aviation risk management programs: safety management teams confuse hazards and risks, and consequently also confuse risks and consequences.

To be frank, misunderstanding the difference between these three things can have far-reaching repercussions on your ability to practice risk management in your aviation safety management system (SMS).

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Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management

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