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

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:

Plans and Challenges of Implementation

Aviation safety management systems (SMS) implementation takes a long time to fully mature, usually three to five years if you are lucky.

Once there, your SMS will continually be tweaked and updated, which of course requires further implementation and monitoring.

When Should I Review Our SMS Manual?

It's very important to review SMS Manuals.

The most common audit finding is that the operator is not conducting operations as stated in their SMS manual.

Furthermore, your manual is only as useful as the information it contains. If the information is out of date, employees will lose trust in it. This undermines the safety culture you've worked to build.

Review your manual at regular intervals. Annual reviews are best practice, but some operators go as long as 3 years between reviews.

Sell SMS to Top Management

Securing top management support is critical for a successful aviation Safety Management System (SMS), ensuring compliance with FAA Part 5 and ICAO Annex 19 while enhancing safety for airlines, airports, MROs, and flight schools. These four actionable tips, leveraging SMS Pro tools, help safety managers pitch SMS effectively, overcoming resistance and driving organizational buy-in, as discussed in our management support guide.

Why Create an Aviation SMS Manual?

In aviation, where safety is paramount, a Safety Management System (SMS) is the foundation for managing risks and ensuring operational excellence.

At the core of any SMS lies the SMS manual—a critical document that outlines an organization’s safety policies, procedures, and processes. For aviation safety managers, crafting a comprehensive SMS manual is essential for meeting regulatory requirements, passing audits, and fostering a culture where safety is everyone’s priority.

Safety Managers Can Only Manage Hazards That Are Reported

Healthy aviation safety management systems (SMS) rely upon hazard reporting to reduce operational risk. High-performing safety reporting cultures receive approximately one report for every ten employees each month.

Why Review Safety Policy & Objectives in Aviation SMS Programs?

Aviation safety managers share many common traits, including:

• detail oriented;
• hard driven;

Why Safety Management Gets Safety Objectives Wrong

Somewhat surprisingly, in aviation safety management systems (SMS), safety objectives are often quite misunderstood. Experienced safety management may have a slightly misguided understanding of safety objectives.

New safety management will simply ask, what are safety objectives?

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

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.