SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Managerial Style Is Critical for Safety Managers

How aviation safety managers conduct oversight is extremely important for the success or failure of the aviation safety management system (SMS).

The particular management style of a safety manager determines how willingly employees will interact with aviation SMS. Will they sincerely accept the demands placed on them by the SMS? Or will they rebel silently and look for ways to subvert the SMS?

What kind of style do you use as a safety manager?

FAA’s SRM Risk Control Component – Defining Risk

The FAA’s SRM Risk Control component is the 5^th and final element in the Safety Risk Management process.

The Risk Control component is the phase in which you will bring hazards and hazards’ risks into an acceptable level of safety.

FAA’s SRM Risk Assessment Element

The FAA’s SRM Risk Assessment element is the 4^th component in the Safety Risk Management Process. This process is outlined in the Advisory Circular and is based on the 4 Pillars of SMS.

The FAA's SRM Risk Assessment will naturally result from the SRM Risk Analysis component. Once a thorough risk analysis has been performed, responsible managers should have a good idea of the chances of a risk occurring, as well as potential damages/injuries.

FAA’s Safety Risk Management (SRM) Process for Risk Analysis

Thankfully, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) SRM compliance requirement for Risk Analysis is fairly clear.

The "Risk Analysis" component description in the Advisory Circular provides most of the information you need to fulfill the requirement.

Human Factors Central Theme in Aviation Safety

As the aviation industry continues to grow, a concentrated effort on safety needs to expand into all realms of aviation, especially regarding hazard identification, as well as risk assessment and mitigation, related to human error.

In aviation, there will always be uncontrolled variables. This remains true because we operate in an open system, exposed to many variables outside the direct control of the operator.

Subpar Aviation SMS Training Courses Are Worthless

Finding quality aviation safety management systems (SMS) training can be tricky.

Like any industry, the aviation industry is rattled with subpar training courses. Generally, these SMS courses are subpar because for consistent reasons. Mainly, this is because new training courses are usually modeled after existing courses from the traditional safety program, which means the new courses inherit the same mistakes in the regurgitated or recycled materials.

Safety Management Systems Drive Efficiency

I believe the primary motivation of safety management systems (SMS) in aviation is efficiency. Of course, safety and looking out for the health and well-being of others is incredibly important, that goes without saying, but there are more consequences of safety risks than simply injuries to consider.

Some accidents and mistakes cost time and money rather than lives. Preventing those types of incidents is incredibly important to aviation as well.

Recurrent SMS Training Can Be Expensive

Aviation safety management systems (SMS) require both initial and recurrent SMS training for all employees. Safety professionals recognize this requirement once they reach Phase 2 of the SMS implementation.

For small companies with 20 to 100 employees, it is not feasible to send all employees to aviation SMS training courses. Nor is it feasible to regularly hire an SMS consultant to deliver training to all employees. Not only do you have costs relating to consultants' time and expenses, but also lost revenue due to employees not performing billable services.

What Are Underlying Causes in Aviation SMS

Underlying causes in aviation safety management systems (SMS) are the bridge between reactive and proactive risk management.

Underlying causes are the “input” for safety issues because they reinforce the actions and behaviors that cause incidents to happen.

When you make a concerted effort to uncover underlying causes in your aviation SMS program, you:

• Can start to manage the problem (underlying causes) rather than just the symptoms (incidents);

What Is Aviation SMS Performance?

Aviation service providers around the world have been devoting considerable resources to implement formal aviation safety management systems (SMS). Each of these SMS implementations requires safety performance monitoring and measurement of critical data elements.

Clearly, many elements and risk management activities that makeup SMS' performance. Where does a safety manager start?