Aviation safety managers are among the best people I've ever worked with. What does this tell you? Maybe my exposure is severely limited?
During my life, I've worked a lot with:
As a group, I prefer working with aviation safety managers more than with any other group; however, the loggers were more fun, albeit filled with rough, crude humor.
Why do I like safety managers?
I have learned a lot from aviation safety officers during the past dozen years. As everyone reading this knows, selling safety to management types is not easy. Safety managers have to present their case to ask for funds for:
Aviation safety managers are providing a very valuable service, ensuring that their airline, airport, or maintenance organization is complying with regulatory and/or contractual SMS requirements. Safety managers are very busy, dedicated professionals. Their job is not easy.
I personally feel that safety managers are under-appreciated. Safety managers must continually drive themselves and continue to learn the latest risk management strategies, often on their own.
Safety managers not only focus on putting out fires but also encouraging employees to report fires before they become major catastrophes.
When I think of safety managers' busy days, I think of the tasks that fall under the four pillars of aviation safety management systems:
But there is more to being a safety manager than making your aviation company safe and compliant with the SMS requirements.
Most of us believe we know what are safety managers' duties and responsibilities. Need help?
Yet there is a problem. I'm seeing a failure in the system that can be avoided.
Safety managers are doing their jobs when they have the tools. At least, they are doing the jobs that we typically expect from safety managers.
They are documenting their SMS programs, such as
This is a lot of work for a safety manager. But there is a key element that many safety managers are missing.
Please note that I say many safety managers are missing this key element. This is not a universal statement, but one that certainly requires consideration by all managers at
I don't mention manufacturers here because the following problem occurs most often in smaller companies, although I have seen it at two very large international airlines and airports.
What I'm continuing to see after all these years is that the safety program fails as soon as the safety manager leaves the company. We see this sad, but preventable event several times each year.
We interact with between three to four hundred aviation service providers. Furthermore, we see that each year, three to five percent of the companies will have a complete SMS breakdown when their safety manager leaves the company.
The good news is that the safety managers take their skills and abilities to new companies to improve their new employers' SMS. But the bad news is that there is a tremendous void that they leave behind. A common reason safety managers leave is due to a lack of top management support for what the safety managers feel is a worthwhile mission: sincerely improve aviation safety, and not simply "check the box."
Lack of top management support is not always evident, but here are some signals to be alert for:
If you answered yes, and your safety manager has a handle on all the SMS documentation, I think your safety manager is doing his job.
Otherwise, I think that the safety manager needs to train somebody in case he leaves the company.
If the safety manager is reluctant to train somebody else because he is afraid of losing job security, then you need to get rid of this safety manager. He is not doing your company any good. I've seen this happen, and this is a sick culture that goes beyond the safety department.
Mature SMS programs can function when the safety manager leaves for an extended period. The best example I can think of is Flair Airlines in Kelowna, British Columbia. They are known for having a best-in-class aviation SMS. They consistently earn the highest marks possible for aviation safety audits.
The safety manager at Flair Airlines is frequently sought out to participate in international SMS events. She was also awarded a scholarship to study in the Aerospace MBA program offered at the Toulouse School of Business in Toulouse, France.
Due to this opportunity, the safety manager was frequently out of the country for extended periods. Yet the SMS thrived during her absence because the safety manager trained the department heads to manage the SMS in her absence. There is an excellent lesson here.
Last week, I was speaking with an upper-level executive of an international aviation company. He told me that he needed a system that would allow all the managers to participate in the SMS and not simply dump everything onto the safety manager. This executive understood the proper way to approach his SMS. He knew that it takes more than hiring a safety manager to have an aviation SMS. I'm foretelling that his SMS will withstand the tempest that occurs when the safety manager leaves.
Safety managers have an important role to play. Safety managers should be considered key personnel, yet they are often treated as cheap, easily replaceable labor that simply fills a seat. When management undervalues the safety team, they are placing their operating certificate in jeopardy.
Audit findings are the inevitable result of safety managers not doing their jobs. Whose fault is it that safety managers are not properly trained or have adequate resources to manage the SMS? I can tell you this is no mystery. The accountable executive is both responsible and accountable for the SMS.
To justify the above statement, we can quickly review 14 CFR Part 5§ 5.25 Designation and responsibilities of required safety management personnel.
(a) Designation of the accountable executive. The certificate holder must identify an accountable executive who, irrespective of other functions, satisfies the following:
There should be no doubt now as to who is responsible for ensuring the safety manager has sufficient resources to manage organizational safety requirements. This includes funding a backup plan in case the safety manager suddenly decides to leave the company. A safety manager who is doing their job should prepare the company with at least one alternate strategy in the case the safety manager "gets hit by the bus."
When your SMS can survive the loss of key safety personnel, then you know your safety manager is doing their job.
See what tasks safety managers share in common. These checklists show common safety manager tasks performed:
Last updated September 2024.