SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Purpose of Non-Punitive Reporting Policies in Aviation SMS Programs

Dedicated, hard-working safety managers drive the setup of airline and airports' aviation safety management systems (SMS).

These safety managers are often left to decipher ambiguous requirements that are open to multiple interpretations. This comes into play, especially when upper management wants to "pencil-whip" an aviation SMS and merely check the boxes.

What Is a Corrective Action - a Definition

A corrective action is a risk management process, tool or activity used to correct any undesirable element of an aviation service provider's operational system. Most commonly, the term "corrective action" is used loosely to represent "corrective actions and preventative actions," or CPAs. You may also see corrective actions called CAPAs (corrective action preventative action) or RCAs (recommended corrective actions), though CPA is the most recognized acronym globally in the aviation industry.

Aviation Safety Culture Is Not a Concept

As I’ve discussed before, “safety culture” gets thrown around rather loosely in the aviation industry.

"Safety culture" is the kind of thing that is vitally important, but so undernourished in terms of actually discussing what it means and what it looks like, that you sort of roll your eyes and with a wink and a nod say, “Oh yea... safety culture.”

What Is Change Management

Management of change in aviation SMS is a formal process for facilitating changes in safety programs. Usually, this process is instigated when required changes are going to affect higher-level, systems in the SMS. Smaller changes are handled with corrective actions.

#3 of the Dirty Dozen Is “Lack of Knowledge”

So, just what is a Lack of Knowledge?

Any competent human factors instructor will tell you that "Lack of knowledge" is when you lack the knowledge to complete a task correctly. Many new employees have what we call a “Lack of Knowledge” or lack of experience.

Let’s face it, in these times of ever-changing technology,

What’s in a Name?

Identifying hazards is a big part of implementing a Safety Management System or SMS. Most of us assume that we know what a hazard is. It’s not a complicated word, we’re pretty sure we know what it means. No problem, right?

Problem is, hazard might be one of the most misunderstood words in the English language. Probably because a lot of definitions you’ll find say something like what Google tells us, “a danger or risk.” From this, we could gather that a hazard and a risk are the same.

What It Means to Practice Reactive, Proactive, and Predictive Risk Management

If you want to practice reactive, proactive, and predictive risk management in aviation safety management systems (SMS), you first and foremost need to understand the difference between these types of risk management in modern aviation operations.

Understanding what each type of risk management is does not involve just understanding the “conceptual” difference, but how each practice differs in the actual operational environment.

What Is Safety Risk Management Process

The Safety Risk Management process (SRM) is where you outline and document your entire operational risk profile. Completing your SRM process is a major part of Phase 3 of SMS implementation.

Once you complete the initial documentation of your SRM process, you will need to continuously update it as new “inputs” are identified or implemented in your SMS,

What Are Goals for Best Practices of Hazard Reporting

Knowing best practices for hazard reporting in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is an attempt to better attain the goals of hazard reporting.

What are the goals of hazard reporting?

There are three main objectives:

What Is a Fishbone Diagram?

Fishbone diagrams are an excellent risk management tool for the root-cause-focused aviation industry.

If you are wondering how to use fishbone diagrams, you first need to know what a fishbone diagram is.

A fishbone diagram derives its name from its fish-like appearance, with a head and several fins. Each “fin” or “branch” of a fishbone diagram describes a different element of the failure. The head of the fishbone describes the risk.