Enhancing Aviation Safety: Expert Insights, Tips, and Updates from SMS-Pro

Safety Culture More Than Policies and Procedures

In some places within the aviation industry, people believe that “safety culture” looks like a lot of rules and regulations. It looks like “the man” or a bunch of nerdy pencil pushers.

Why Monitor Aviation Safety Culture Performance

Healthy aviation safety culture results in safety performance.

Other than the bureaucratic elements of SMS, you could even make an argument that safety culture is safety performance. In aviation safety management systems (SMS), safety performance monitoring and measurement are required.

How do you measure safety culture performance?

How do you determine safety culture performance is improving?

Aviation SMS Are Not Required by All Operators

In November 2006, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICA0) mandated the implementation of formal aviation safety management systems (SMS) for most commercial aviation service providers. Besides the usual suspects of large airlines and airports, the list of required operators includes

• flight schools,
• aircraft designers,
• aircraft parts manufacturers, and

How to Understand Fatigue in Aviation SMS

Fatigue is a top safety priority. Even moderate levels of fatigue can cause employees to demonstrate the same mental and physical capabilities as an intoxicated person.

Employee Resistance in Aviation SMS Implementations

The majority of aviation service providers are required to implement formal aviation safety management systems (SMS) per the November 2006 ICAO mandate. This is a requirement. SMS implementation is not optional for most operators.

Just as the SMS implementation is not optional, employees do not have the luxury of shirking their duties and responsibilities to the SMS.

What Is Trend Analysis in Aviation Safety Management?

It is a common misnomer that trend analysis in risk management is used to forecast future performance. This understanding of trend analysis is both reductive and distorts the purpose of trend analysis in aviation safety management systems (SMS).

What Does It Mean to Restructure Aviation SMS Implementations

Occasionally aviation safety managers will want to do a turn and pivot with the direction of their aviation safety management system (SMS) implementation. What this looks like is restructuring.

When safety managers decide to restructure an aviation SMS implementation, it means changing and updating the bureaucratic structure of the SMS and possibly some of the SMS' documented risk management processes.

The Obvious Reasons

We are generally aware of the more straightforward indicators of unhealthy aviation safety management systems (SMS).

Things like:

The Real Purpose of Gap Analysis

A true aviation SMS implementation takes years and a lot of hard work to effect lasting change. SMS implementations can take considerably longer due to:

• Poor gap analyses;
• Ineffective procedures;
• Unstable safety management teams;

Safety Auditors Are a Rare Breed of Personality Traits

Good aviation safety auditors play a vital role in the ability of an aviation safety management system (SMS) to identify

• substandard safety performance; and
• ways in which the SMS can improve.