SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Manage Safety Is Managing Risk

Ultimately, managing safety is about managing risk – a core value that can easily be overshadowed in large aviation safety management systems' (SMS) implementations.

In many ways, smaller organizations have a natural benefit for managing risk simply because:

• The scale is smaller;
• There are fewer variables to account for;
• Regulatory scrutiny is not as severe; and
• There is a tighter-knit community, therefore influencing safety cultures becomes easier.

What Is Reactive Risk Management

Reactive risk management usually gets a bad rap. It’s often perceived as the “lowest” form of risk management, and those aviation service providers should be moving from reactive risk management towards more “advanced” forms to manage risk.

What Is Task Delegation in Aviation Risk Management

Proper task delegation in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is critical for the efficiency and success of aviation risk management processes. An SMS implementation revolves around:

• Designing risk management processes;
• Implementing processes;
• Monitoring processes; and
• Reacting to exceptions discovered during system monitoring processes.

The Money Hungry Industry of Aviation

From what I have gathered over the years, every company seems to operate in the same way, money before safety.

Companies will think to themselves “How can I make money while still being safe?”

The problem with this mindset is that the word money comes first. If it were switched to say “How can I be the safest while still making money?” there wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Common Questions About Aviation LOSA Programs

As a professional that regularly deals with Line Operations Safety Audits (LOSA), there are two questions that I frequently hear;

1. Why should my airline adopt a safety program that is not mandated by our regulating authority?
2. We already do line audits, wouldn’t LOSA be redundant and a waste of our money and resources?

They are good questions. And here are my responses...

Procedures at Heart of Aviation Safety Management

I currently just finished my freshman year at San Diego Christian College (SDCC) enrolled as an aviation major seeking a career in commercial aviation. SDCC employs a third party whom they rent aircraft and employ instructors from.

If I have learned one thing from my first year of training, it is that policies and procedures are everything, that is, they are more important than most people readily consider during everyday flight operations.

Aviation SMS Training Does Not Have to Break the Bank

In Phase 2 and Phase 4 of an ICAO compliant aviation safety management system (SMS), aviation service providers must

• Deliver training relevant to reactive risk management processes; and
• Develop training relevant to operational safety assurance.

Assessing Your Aviation SMS Implementation

The things that often hurt aviation safety management systems (SMS) are less symptomatic of the bureaucratic side of formal SMS implementations than they are the type of working environment that management teams cultivate.

Accountable executives, with the assistance of aviation safety managers may create solid policies, but if they don’t take the secondary steps to adequately integrate the relationships between-

Common Question Before Aviation SMS Implementations

I interact with safety managers and accountable executives as we provide consulting and database services for aviation service providers implementing formal aviation safety management systems (SMS).

Occasionally, I hear these groups saying, "We only want the pilots to participate in the SMS."

Worse yet, I'll see an airline with 4,000 employees telling me that only "20-40 people in the company are active in the aviation SMS,"

Safety Professionals Need to Understand Risk Control Strategies

Aviation safety managers must monitor risk controls for effectiveness as they are associated with many hazards encountered in daily operations. There is an expectation of regulatory agencies that aviation service providers' implemented safety management systems (SMS) will:

• proactively manage safety;
• identify potential hazards,
• determine the risk associated with those identified hazards; and
• implement and monitor control measures that mitigate the risk.