Even smaller aviation safety management system (SMS) are still a leviathan of
A disorganized aviation safety manager will slowly kill an aviation SMS every time.
Symptoms of a disorganized safety manager will arise, such as:
On the flip side of this coin, a well-organized aviation safety manager usually administers an efficiently functioning SMS. The significant hiccup areas, such as passing safety audits and SMS implementation activities, will be far more successful because a safety manager will be able to focus their efforts where it counts, rather than simply "getting it together."
Creating a system of organization that functions with energetic integrity is a combination of a safety manager’s/team’s personal habits, as well as the aid of a formal system of structured risk management processes, such as those offered by aviation SMS software.
Without a doubt, commercially available, low-cost SMS software greatly amplifies the efforts of a safety team. Instead of focusing on menial documentation details commonly found in SMS documentation requirements, safety teams can focus on adding more value to the SMS with more service offerings, such as
I'm not saying that safety managers cannot manage their SMS without aviation SMS software. Very small, simple operations may be able to succeed using paper, MS Excel, and MS Word. Based on experience, if your operations have more than 40 employees or smaller companies with high employee turnover, low-cost SMS software will easily be one of your best investments in SMS. In Europe, SMS databases are required to hold hazard-reporting data.
For other operators, if your company has more than 60 to 80 employees, I recommend an aviation SMS database to reduce the SMS documentation efforts. The sooner you start using an SMS database, the sooner you will be able to participate in predictive risk management.
Before we jump into the habits of effective organization for aviation safety managers, let’s briefly look at what well organized actually means.
A well-organized safety manager will be able to answer most questions that start with things like-
-at the drop of a hat, or at least after a moment's reference. When we talk about being well organized in an aviation SMS, we are talking about trackability of safety activities, especially including those that become "audit worthy."
A safety manager will constantly be tracking things like:
And so forth. In layman’s terms “trackability” simply means being on top of it, and doing it with methods that everyone else can see and clearly understand. In the SMS, trackability is considered "safety performance monitoring." Safety performance monitoring assures us the SMS is working appropriately by continuously monitoring hazards, risks, and control measures.
If you are starting your new aviation SMS implementation, or have been working on it for some time, here are 5 effective habits that good safety officers use to become organized.
This doesn’t mean creating an in-house aviation SMS software program. As stated previously, there is no substitute for an industry-accepted, professionally built aviation SMS database to keep safety teams organized. Rather, in this case, building a trusted system is a personal system that means:
Basically put, building a personal trusted system of organization means: creating a system of your workflow
So that if you were, for example, training a new safety manager, you could show step by step how you deal with various elements.
Years ago I worked as a project manager and my boss insisted that anytime information was passed between myself and clients/vendors/herself/etc., I write it down, date it, and file it away for future reference. It sounds tedious.
And it is tedious. But it will save you time and time again – it has certainly saved my coworkers and me many times. For a safety officer, this might look like
Any information with a relative degree of importance should be scribbled down. Usually, it’s also best to write these things down on the relevant piece of paper/documentation.
Basically, a pen and paper are a well-organized safety manager’s sidekicks. Things are constantly being documented and dated.
Of course, being able to document and track many pieces of information requires some place to put it. This takes several forms:
Having a place for everything has subtle benefits that go beyond your own personal effectiveness and sanity as a safety manager. For example, should you leave your current organization, get sick, have someone fill in for you, etc., another person would quickly and easily be able to fill your shoes.
It means that the functioning of an SMS is dependent on the safety manager’s system and method of organization, rather than on the actual personality of the safety manager him/herself.
We all know this to be true, especially in aviation SMS where safety-related data is constantly pouring into your lap: things build up quickly.
The best safety managers I’ve seen address reported safety issues and actionable items right away. It involves having strong multi-tasking abilities of course, but it is also dependent on item three. If a safety manager doesn’t have a place to put information, it will sit.
And in an SMS, things that sit, build up, and get messy. Addressing safety concerns right away means taking the appropriate action for that moment, documenting it, and filing that information in a designated place with a reminder of when it needs to be addressed again.
As you are well aware, aviation SMS is huge. Safety managers who start their day by spending 20-30 minutes doing the following:
And so on. This allows safety managers to get their bearings – mental organization if you will – and establish their directives so that they can maximize their working efficiency and ability to stay on task.
Basically, a morning review is simply past/present/future task organization.
Aviation safety manager’s organization boils down to creating a system out of personal workflows. It involves
Being extremely organized not only makes safety managers and the SMS perform well, but it also safeguards the safety manager’s role in the SMS should something happen to him/her. All this, and not to mention that passing audits will be simple as pie.
An SMS database solution will save considerable time. An SMS database comes with defined risk management workflows that may benefit your organization. If you don't have documented SMS risk management workflows, then I recommend acquiring an SMS database to help you out.
An SMS database will also assure the accountable executive that the SMS is managed properly. An SMS database solution offers:
An aviation SMS database is a safety manager's best friend. The SMS database will make your safety and quality team's work more professional and structured as processes are well-defined by a community of safety professionals.
When was the last time you reviewed your risk management procedures? Here are some useful workflows to compare your system with that of others.
Last updated August 2024.