One of the most ubiquitous problems in aviation risk management is the misuse of commonly used words, in particular “hazard” and “risk.” Often, these two items are either:
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
If you put 10 safety managers in a room and asked them what root cause analysis was, they would have ten different answers.
Safety professionals all say that they perform root cause analysis at some time during their risk management process. In their minds, that’s probably true.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Management of change in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is essential for managing operational or organizational change. Safety teams are typically involved in the management of change (MOC) exercises.
There is often confusion among new aviation safety managers when they are confronted with answering auditors' questions regarding MOC in their SMS.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Aviation safety managers are tasked to ensure that the safety risks encountered at their operations are controlled to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP).
Modern aviation safety risk management includes:
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
The best way to recognize and mitigate immediate risks associated with aviation hazards is by using the PAVE checklist to analyze your current safety environment. PAVE is an excellent and expedient flight risk assessment tool (FRAT).
Each risk scenario can be grouped under a part of the PAVE checklist and can help with recognizing both the hazard and the need to react for a particular mission.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Hazard identification in aviation SMS is the baseline performance needed for a successful safety program. It is the first element of the Safety Risk Management component of the 4 Pillars of aviation safety.
At face value, hazard identification is fairly simple: awareness and recognition of potential danger in the operational environment. In aviation safety management systems (SMS), hazard identification is complicated by the fact that:
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
The unfortunate fact is that many managers in aviation safety management systems (SMS) don’t start asking serious questions until their SMS is either “stuck” or in trouble.
Questions and answers need to come at the beginning of SMS implementation. Your answers to fundamental questions about safety management will be a guideline through the entire process of your SMS' implementation.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Operators implementing formal aviation safety management systems (SMS) need to develop, practice and maintain a documented process of risk analysis, risk assessment, and risk control to an acceptable level of safety (ALoS). We say that the process needs to be formal in the sense that risk assessments/analysis needs to be documented and communicated to employees based on their participatory role in the aviation SMS.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Safety Risk Management receives by far the most attention of any aspect of aviation safety management systems (SMS). It is, as you might say, “where the action is,” in terms of managing risk and the most focused-upon element in an aviation SMS.
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
Risk matrices are probably the inter-industry safety standard as the primary tool used in risk evaluation. In aviation safety management systems (SMS) they are ubiquitous.
Risk matrices are simplistic charts (though not necessarily “simple”) that use “probability” and “severity” to quantify
Topics: 2-Safety Risk Management
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