Some countries (Australia and soon Canada) now require even the smaller aviation service providers to participate in safety management system (SMS) activities. This creates multiple challenges for these non-complex operators.
For starters, there is high resistance to change in the cultures of these non-complex operations, most of which never experienced severe losses, such as fatalities or complete loss of aircraft.
Topics: Risk Management Software
Historically, quality management systems and traditional safety programs have been managed separately. With the advent of modern safety management systems (SMS), there is an opportunity to develop synergies between the two systems. However, the majority of safety professionals at smaller companies remain focused on simple SMS compliance and may miss out on this unexpected boon, which has been disguised as a regulatory mandate.
Indeed, many organizations still manage their organizations' safety and quality initiatives with separate systems for quality operations and safety operations.
Topics: 3-Safety Assurance
Aviation service providers investing in aviation safety management systems (SMS) can expect to reduce
These reductions save providers in a variety of ways, such as
Topics: Risk Management Training
Aviation is known as a safe industry; we have statistics showing that it’s safer to fly than it is to drive a car. But what makes it so safe? Should industry really be focused so heavily on safety management systems (SMS) when we enjoy such high levels of safety?
Elevated levels of aviation safety performance certainly didn’t happen by chance but by careful planning and the creation of a culture of safety. There are certain elements that aviation service providers consider to attribute to safe operations. These elements make up a healthy safety culture.
Topics: 4-Safety Promotion
Mark my words: before long leading indicators in aviation safety management will be ubiquitous in nearly every aviation safety management system (SMS). I say this for several compelling reasons:
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Aviation leading indicators are aviation safety data put to best use. They are designed to identify precursors to good/bad safety performance and uncover what goes into the program that dictates success or failure.
Successful aviation safety management systems (SMS) are primarily concerned with stopping the manifestation of hazards before they happen, which is why they depend so much on leading indicators.
Leading indicators in aviation become useful to safety programs when:
Topics: 3-Safety Assurance
An aviation safety database is not simply an improvement over spreadsheets. The database completely overhauls the way you interact with safety information in an aviation safety management system (SMS). An SMS database is a proper technology to manage an aviation SMS for operators with:
Topics: 3-Safety Assurance
Bowtie analysis is one of the best aviation risk management tools to communicate risk and demonstrate commitment to safety.
Although not universally shared, I've seen that about 10% of smaller operators in the 100 to 500 employee range believe that bowtie is the best way to communicate operational risk and satisfy aviation safety management system (SMS) auditors. These "bowtie adherents" are usually providing services to the oil and gas industry.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
We know that aviation safety management is a system of safety management activities.
Policies, processes, and procedures are created to systematically approach
Topics: 1-Safety Policy
Since November 2006, operators inadvertently followed a forked path while implementing required aviation safety management systems (SMS). In some cases, they made conscious choices, but in most cases, the path they chose was forced upon them due to imperfect information.
I prefer to believe that most who started the SMS journey had hoped that they would succeed and reap the expected rewards while simultaneously improving global transportation system safety.
Topics: Aviation SMS Database, 1-Safety Policy
These two on-demand videos offer:
