Benefits of Safety Surveys

Safety surveys give you insight into the relationship between your employees and your aviation safety program, which includes:

• The SMS;
• Safety management; and
• Aspects of safety culture.

Importantly, safety surveys provide quantifiable data. This allows you to:

• Track progress over time;
• Rank what is and isn’t doing well in your SMS;
• Offer employees an avenue to participate in the SMS by giving feedback;
• Compare how employees view your SMS in different time periods; and
• Gather valuable insight and guidance on where to focus your efforts.

However, to attain these benefits, you need to format your surveys correctly.

Best Practices for Safety Surveys

For the most part, safety surveys are fairly straightforward. Here are recommended practices for safety surveys:

• Give safety surveys regularly, such as 1-2 times per year.
• Use the same questions each time, though you may format them differently so that they “appear” to be different;
• Have each question be on a number scale, such as 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree);
• If you want to use good questions for safety surveys, gather questions from other surveys, such as in this article or from other operators; and
• Gather surveys and store the results in a database or spreadsheet.

Here are 30 good questions for safety surveys in aviation SMS.

Survey Questions for Hazard Reporting Culture

1. I believe that my company has an effective hazard reporting process
2. I feel comfortable reporting issues with the hazard reporting process
3. I think our hazard reporting process is very easy to use
4. I think that reporting issues have obvious value for my safety
5. I never feel pressure to NOT report some types of issues
6. I always report any dangerous work practices I see

Related Aviation Hazard Reporting Culture Articles

• Indicators of Good Hazard Reporting Culture
• What Are Most Important Things to Know about Hazard Reporting in SMS
• What Is Offline Hazard Reporting in Aviation SMS

Survey Questions for How Employees Feel About Management

7. I think that management is effective at managing safety issues
8. I feel very comfortable approaching safety management directly with safety concerns
9. I feel that my safety directly benefits from safety management’s decisions
10. I think management tries hard to improve safety
11. I think the Safety manager often discusses safety issues with myself and/or other employees
12. I think management gives good feedback regarding the company’s safety performance

Survey Questions for Safety Culture

13. I feel that my coworkers encourage each other to work safely
14. I think management places more emphasis on performing tasks safely rather than quickly
15. Management praises employees if they see them working safely
16. I think employees follow policies/procedures/rules most of the time
17. I think managers are aware of the main safety problems I deal with in the workplace
18. After reporting issues, I think management tries to find the reason for the issue rather than blaming people

Related Aviation Safety Culture Articles

• 5 Characteristics of Effective Aviation Safety Cultures - with Free Survey
• 5 Ways to Constantly Improve Safety Culture
• How to Change Toxic Safety Cultures in Aviation SMS

Survey Questions for Safety Guidance From SMS

19. I feel that I am given enough training to easily complete my tasks
20. I have checklists that I use to complete routine tasks
21. I have procedures that I can consult if I don’t know how to complete one of my duties
22. I think that I am kept informed when changes are made which may affect safety
23. In the case of an emergency, there is an emergency response document I can follow for what to do and who to contact
24. I feel management does a good job following up with me regarding issues I have reported

Survey Questions for How Employees Feel About the SMS

25. I feel that our safety program makes a big difference in my safety
26. I think our safety program is performing very well
27. I know how to easily access safety policies, procedures, checklists, and other resources related to safety
28. I feel that I was adequately trained on the purpose and goals of our SMS
29. I know how to easily access our company goals
30. Safety audits/inspections are carried out regularly

Last updated February 2024.