SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Weigh Aviation SMS Consulting Pros and Cons

Aviation SMS consulting is for professionals who choose to independently contract custom SMS solutions for clients.

SMS consultants have differing roles in their clients’ SMS, depending on the needs of each organization they partner with.

Consultants generally have many years of aviation SMS experience and are equipped with the network and knowledge to provide solutions to diverse needs.

Responsibility for Aviation Risk Management

Aviation risk management is the backbone and general goal of modern aviation safety management systems (SMS).

Developing the maturity of an aviation SMS program is tantamount to cultivating more sophisticated, accurate, and proactive risk management strategies.

Responsibility in aviation risk management is kind of a messy word. Historically and structurally, aviation SMS programs are depicted as being top-down.

The clean answer as far as "who has responsibility for risk management" is that management does.

Proactive Aviation Safety Managers: Diverse Skills

There are many ways to describe what an aviation safety manager does. They are associated with phrases such as “plate spinners,” “wear many hats,” and “task jugglers.” For good reason too.

Aviation safety is a complex beast that requires diverse expertise to properly spearhead.

Among other things, safety managers are responsible for everything from:

• Audit preparation for performance management;

You Probably Need a Safety Database, Right?

I'm guessing if your airline or airport has more than 20 employees you will need a database for many of your SMS requirements.

If you don't have the budget for a database, or if you are one of those talented safety managers with excellent IT skills, then you can build your own safety database.

In this article, we demonstrate how you can design your own safety database within an hour or two.

So let's get started.

“Aviation Risk Management” Is a Vague Phrase

It occurred to me recently that the phrase “aviation risk management” gets thrown around in many different contexts, both by myself and anyone else who writes about aviation safety management systems (SMS). While “aviation risk management” gives the impression of being a single, solid idea – something to attain for – in reality, it is a phrase that means many different things depending on the context.

It can be as much:

• A “thing”;
• As an adjective;

Aviation Safety Charts Monitor SMS Performance

Aviation safety charts provide aviation safety management teams with an invaluable visual presentation of their aviation safety management system (SMS) performance. Yet it should not be only the safety managers that should be reviewing these safety charts. The accountable executive has much more at stake.

For every SMS implementation, the accountable executive is responsible for

• Ensuring the SMS implementation is performed across the organization;
• Regularly reviewing organizational safety performance; and

Safety Reporting Process Will Make or Break an Aviation SMS

You could also say that lack of hazard and safety reporting in an aviation safety management system (SMS) can break a company.

Hazard reporting is critically important to any aviation service provider if it wants to benefit from its investment in the required and voluntary SMS. It’s equally important that aviation safety professionals have an open dialogue about what the important discussion points are and what problems are endemic to the aviation SMS.

What Is a Risk Matrix Used for in Aviation Risk Management

The risk matrix is the standard risk assessment tool in aviation SMS and other risk management industries. It’s a standard tool because it’s simple and accomplishes all of the needs of a risk assessment, namely:

• Rank safety concerns;
• Understand if an issue’s risk is “tolerable”;
• Ensure assessments are consistent; and
• Ensure assessments are easy and intuitive to perform.

Aviation Risk Management Requires a Safety Mindset

Aviation risk management is a vital part of being a well-rounded pilot. The safety mindset works best every time flying.

Although all components are important, perhaps the most vital of them all is understanding the importance of "aviation risk management."

The textbook definition of risk management is a decision-making process that relies on

• situational awareness,
• problem recognition, and
• good judgment

Pros and Cons of Prescriptive vs Performance Based SMS

Performance vs prescriptive based approaches to aviation safety management systems (SMS) is and will increasingly be a hot topic in the aviation industry for years to come.

As it should be.

Because let’s face it, “compliant safety" is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and yet prescriptive safety remains an endemic problem in the aviation industry.

Many of you reading this probably know what I’m talking about whenever you feel an SMS inspector is evaluating your organization either unjustly or too harshly in an SMS audit.