Like the concept of safety culture, hazard identification in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is usually taken at face value: it’s just something that happens or doesn’t happen.
While the concept of hazard identification – literally just the awareness of hazards within a system – is very simple, understanding the process of hazard identification is significantly more complex and requires careful consideration.
This consideration is threefold:
I can already imagine some of you thinking, "Well the best approach is a combination of many different approaches. Well, frankly – no – that is an erroneous assumption. Different systems will have different needs, and certain approaches to risk identification will be better tailored for different environments.
Granted, having a well-rounded risk management program is important, but not at the expense of ignoring that your SMS' specific needs require some custom-tailored approaches. Moreover, as you well know, time and resources are ever limited in aviation SMS, and it’s simply not feasible to adopt the combo approach. Here are 4 approaches with tips as to the advantages and disadvantages of each one.
Data-driven Hazard Identification is a fantastic way to make use of your Lagging Indicators, which are the performance data and “output” of your SMS. It simply involves:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Ideal for programs in phase 3 of aviation SMS implementation who are looking to solidify the baseline safety (output) of the program in anticipation of venturing into more proactive or SWIFT-like methods of risk identification. You will notice two key aviation risk management terms that key you into data management requirements, namely:
Data-driven hazard identification is a predictive risk management activity to identify trends or problem areas based on historical data to predict and prepare for future events.
The Structured What If (SWIFT) approach to hazard identification is the daydreamer's ideal method. This method is self-explanatory – it is basically a core team and safety director who sit down and approach situations with a small list of prompts, such as:
Frankly, I see little difference between this and “brainstorming,” except that SWIFT seems to approach situations with some structured prompts whereas brainstorming is more of an open conversation. Either way, they seem to amount to the same advantages.
Essentially, this method involves taking scenarios the company could reasonably expect to arise at some point and preparing a record of how to deal with that scenario. Whereas FMEA looks at specific failures in the system, SWIFT is really accounting for safety scenarios in which multiple failures have lined up (i.e. Swiss Cheese).
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Great for new programs (which usually entail small budgets), to quickly assemble controls and procedures.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) ties in closely with the community approach. This approach relies on a “bottom-up” technique for identifying hazards within the safety management system.
Group approach and FMEA rely on looking at the many different ways base-level parts of the system could fail and reverberate through the system – such as equipment failures or failures of functions of the system (e.g. an employee’s role in the program). It also attempts to ensure that the failure will be recognized because the group is well prepared. It’s essentially a performing method of hazard identification, as it relies on the abilities of front-line employees to recognize and react to base-level failures in the system – base-level failures which are essential precursors to larger problems.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Ideal for larger, well-established SMS with experienced employees, as such programs will have the financial and personal resources to nip hazards in the bud early. Healthy, mature safety cultures perform better using the community, "bottom-up" approach as there is less resistance and more active participation in the SMS.
The leadership approach to identifying hazards empowers highly knowledgeable individuals, such as a safety team, to act as risk-vigilantes in the program. Such individuals would be involved in all aspects of the system and would be responsible for identifying many of the hazards that arise within the SMS.
These safety leaders would be tasked with not only having a wide range of knowledge for hazards as they arose but would also need to have keen eyes for precursors.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Possibly ideal for smaller, tight-knit organizations with an employee base that is comprised of specialists with low employee turnover.
As you have seen, there is more than one way to approach hazard identification in aviation SMS. There are a couple of other approaches that bear mentioning, but we won't cover them here.
During the system analysis phase of SMS implementation, you are describing your system in an effort to "kick loose" ideas to list hazards during the proactive hazard identification activities. This can turn into a monumental task for new aviation SMS. Once hazards are identified, risk scenarios are reviewed and risk controls are evaluated to ensure risk remains acceptable.
The other approach occurs during the Management of Change activities. When proposed organizational change prompts a new Management of Change project, affected systems are evaluated to ensure new hazards are not introduced into the system and that existing hazards' associated risks remain acceptable.
We hope these ideas are helpful to your organization in identifying hazards and reducing risk.
Employees need easy, flexible methods to report identified hazards. These short videos offer insight into how you can improve your hazard identification and hazard reporting program.
After watching the above videos, you may have questions that can be answered in a live meeting.
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Last updated August 2024.