SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Purpose of Aviation Risk Management Tools

Aviation risk management tools are designed to help you manage exposure in your SMS. Managing exposure involves a lot more than just risk analysis.

To properly keep exposure within an Acceptable Level of Safety, you need risk management tools that address all areas of the SMS 4 Pillars.

What is a good risk management tool? It is a safety tool that does one or more of the following:

Optimize Ability to Monitor, Manage, and Document

Becoming a better safety manager involves looking at how you are currently managing your SMS, and seeing where you can optimize your ability to:

• Manage risk exposure, such as reported safety issues, audits, reviewing control measures, etc.;
• Document your SMS design and actions taken to mitigate exposure;
• Promote the SMS; and
• Monitor safety performance;

What Is an Emergency Response Plan

An emergency response plan is a manual that companies use to address many different types of emergencies.

The manuals include:

• Who to contact;
• How to act; and
• Resources to use.

The priorities for any ERP are, in this order:

What Is Phase 4 of Aviation SMS Implementation

Phase 4 of SMS implementation is all about following through on designing your SMS, and moving forward with actually using the created resources and monitoring your SMS. For example, in Phase 3 of SMS implementation you are required to create KPIs, and in Phase 4 you are required to monitor them.

Many aspects you created in Phase 3 are fulfilled in Phase 4 by assuring that they function in actual operations. Thus, Phase 4 is largely concerned with:

What Is Phase 3 of Aviation SMS Implementation

Phase 3 of Aviation SMS implementation is largely about implementing your Safety Risk Management process. Your SRM process is where you document and design your safety management system. Designing your SMS is a two-step process:

• First you design and document your SMS; and
• Second, you update it as your SMS and/or environmental change.

Phase 3 of aviation SMS implementation is a major hurdle because it is extensive, including such things like:

What Is the Human Factor Complacency (Two Types of Complacency)

Human Factor Complacency is one of the most important Human Factors in aviation safety that you need to be aware of.

Complacency can happen when you are feeling satisfied with your level of safety, and it can happen when you are apathetic to your own safety level.

Complacency is the cause of countless safety incidents because of things like:

• You’ve done this task many times with no problem;

What Is a Dying Aviation Risk Management Program

Aviation safety risk management programs are on a spectrum of regression, stagnation, or improvement. What condition is your SMS?

Is your aviation risk management program dying? The truth is that it can be hard to know the current status of your SMS.

Change happens slowly. You may think that your SMS is improving nicely, but then a year later your safety performance is struggling, and you don’t know why. We see it happen with regularity.

What Is SMS Design

In aviation safety, SMS design is the framework upon which operations run safely.

SMS design is encapsulated in the Safety Risk Management pillar of the 4 Pillars of SMS. Implementing the design of your SMS will be the first major accomplishment of your safety program.

Following the SRM process, your design has five stages for design:

What Is Plan Do Check Act (PDCA)

Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) is a very simple, but remarkable process for driving improvement in the design of your aviation SMS.

Here are the main points of PDCA:

• It is a cycle;
• This cycle is designed to be repeatable; and
• It is designed to improve the processes of your SMS.

The various parts of PDCA are:

What Is Phase 2 of Aviation SMS Implementation?

Phase 2 of SMS Implementation is largely dedicated to documenting foundational, core, elements of your safety management system.

The result of implementing Phase 2 is an SMS Safety Policy that all employees can reference to understand:

• What the SMS is;
• What their role in the SMS is;
• Available resources for working safely; and