SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

What Is Aviation Safety Policy

An Aviation Safety Policy is a document in aviation safety management systems (SMS) that outlines:

• What your organization’s safety value are;
• Expectations from employees and stakeholders;
• What safety commitments your organization is willing to make, as directed by the accountable executive; and
• Which resources employees can use to fulfill their SMS duties and responsibilities (policies, procedures, accountabilities, tools)?

Inadequate Safety Performance Compels Aviation SMS Implementation

The level of measurable aviation safety performance is not the same across the world, country-to-country, or airline-to-airline. Some countries are notorious for having substandard aviation safety records and some do not follow international standards, including Bangladesh, Haiti, Honduras, and more.

Even within countries that have accepted and actively practice international aviation safety standards, the level of safety performance within the industry remains unequal.

Do We All Know What Is Aviation Safety Management?

Aviation service providers coordinate materials and activities of their core business model in order to achieve desired objectives. These objectives vary by industry segment type, including:

• Manufacturing;
• Aircraft maintenance;
• Transporting cargo and passengers;
• Aircraft fueling operations;
• Baggage and ramp handling services;

Problems With Invalid LOSA Observations

Many airlines that conduct LOSAs internally have been confronted with a problem that has significantly affected the validity of their observations.

The problem has to do with observer calibration.

Mistakes Are an Opportunity

In any industry, there are bound to be mistakes. Mistakes can be either willful or unintentional, but are equally dangerous to aviation safety.

In aviation, unintentional mistakes can lead to devastating accidents, an outcome that we hope to prevent by implementing Safety Management Systems (SMS) in our organizations.

Aviation SMS implementations are expected to reduce both direct and indirect costs associated with accidents and minor incidents.

What Is Management of Change in Aviation SMS

Management of change in aviation SMS is a formal process for facilitating changes in safety programs. In general, the change management process is evoked when larger, system-level changes are needed in the SMS.

Small changes are handled with corrective actions.

The basic tenants of management of change in aviation SMS are:

• Airlines, airports, and other aviation service providers establish a formal, repeatable process for change;

Benefits of Safety Surveys

Safety surveys give you insight into the relationship between your employees and your aviation safety program, which includes:

• The SMS;
• Safety management; and
• Aspects of safety culture.

Importantly, safety surveys provide quantifiable data. This allows you to:

What Are Safety Objectives in Aviation SMS

Safety objectives in aviation SMS are the markers your safety program uses to assess whether or not your safety goals are being achieved. Your safety objectives will be the basis for how you measure safety performance.

Creating safety objectives is one of the most important tasks for setting yourself up to make good safety decisions and to monitor the performance of the SMS.

Important elements to point out when discussing what safety objectives are in aviation SMS are:

What Does It Mean to Mitigate Risk?

The term “mitigate risk” and “risk mitigation” is slightly misleading. This is because the meaning of the term “risk” changes depending on the context in which it is used.

Confusion also exists because different safety experts have different understandings of what “risk” means.

Risk can mean:

• The composite likelihood and severity of something happening, as in “The risk of…”;
• A specific occurrence that is bad/undesirable, as in a “risk occurrence.”

What Is a Hazard

A hazard in safety management is a condition that poses danger to your organization, and can lead to an accident, incident, or another mishap if not mitigates.

A hazard satisfies ALL of the following conditions:

• Is a dangerous condition, such as an object, situation, circumstance, that poses an unacceptable level of danger;
• Occurs once in the safety mishap lifecycle;