SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Too Complex for One Person

The long and short of is this: don’t fool yourself. You’re just one person. One component in the clock that makes your aviation safety management system (SMS) tick.

Don’t get me wrong, as an aviation safety manager, inspector, executive, etc. you may be central in keeping the word safety in your SMS program. The basic fact remains that the weight and complexity inherent in all SMS programs – even small programs – are quickly outstripping anyone’s ability to be in the know of everything.

Aviation SMS Training Resistance More than Just “Boring”

I hardly need to point out how critical aviation SMS training is for the ongoing success of any aviation safety program.

Operators with well-developed safety training strategies often reap the benefits of a resilient, high functioning aviation safety management system (SMS).

Effective SMS training can mean the difference between obligatory aviation risk management performance and willing, highly active SMS participation by all employees.

Too bad so many employees can’t stand training.

Most Important Questions to Monitor Safety Performance in SMS

Monitoring safety performance in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is undoubtedly one of the most important tasks you will undertake in your SMS. Regulatory requirements turn to monitoring the performance of the SMS from a "nice-to-have program" for reducing risk and avoiding accidents to a "must have and must demonstrate proof" to comply with SMS regulatory requirements.

Safety performance monitoring is integral for maintaining Safety Assurance and the integrity of your SMS program.

How to Use Hazard Reporting Forms

It’s hard to underestimate the value that high-quality hazard reporting forms provide your aviation SMS.

Hazard reporting quite literally provides the underpinning for your risk management activities. No hazard reports...nothing for you to manage.

Hazard reporting forms provide incentive, organization, and guidance for employees when they detect irregularities in the operational environment. Having specific questions for specific types of issues makes reporting easier and faster than having vague or general questions.

Aviation SMS Implemented in Top-Down Approach

Every aviation safety management system (SMS) must be implemented in a top-down fashion.

There can be no other way, regardless of how liberal you think your company is.

But what is the top-down approach, and why are safety managers failing at SMS implementations when using this "top-down" SMS implementation strategy?

After witnessing many SMS implementations over the past dozen years, we have some observations regarding what works for safety managers and what may not.

Seeking Out Mistakes in Aviation SMS Implementations

Being honest about mistakes is hard.

It’s even harder to try and seek out mistakes you are making that you do not know you are making.

In aviation safety management systems (SMS), safety managers are tasked with actively exploring, understanding, and seeking out failures in the program in order to improve them. Even unknown failures are holes in the safety structure of the SMS.

In many significant ways, the success of aviation SMS implementations depends on how honestly and thoroughly such failures are addressed.

How to Conduct Root Cause Analysis

Every aviation safety management system (SMS) contains a subsystem to manage risk associated with reported safety issues and audit findings. This subsystem can be called the SMS' risk management system as this system provides the logical workflow necessary to efficiently:

• Conduct and document investigations;
• Assign and track corrective actions and preventive actions;
• Perform risk assessments; and

Understanding What Safety Performance in Aviation SMS Is

Safety performance in aviation safety management systems (SMS) can be difficult to fully comprehend because it involves so many moving parts. In general, we understand safety performance as involving the:

• Ability to comply with regulations of oversight agencies;
• Ability to monitor operational safety performance;
• Risk management processes to mitigate risk and monitor risk controls;

Communication Critical to Aviation Safety Managers Role

Aviation safety managers need to give feedback – both praise ,and criticism – to employees and management regularly. It’s an essential part of their role as a leader in driving the performance of their aviation safety management system (SMS).

Safety managers who communicate well with employees and other managers tend to be significantly more successful in all areas of their aviation SMS, such as:

Root Human Factors and Symptomatic Human Factors

The Dirty Dozen Human Factors in aviation safety management systems (SMS) are not isolated factors.

They are an interwoven set of human actions that influence each other. And they are not all created equal.

Some Human Factors can pose significant risk, but generally appear as symptoms of Human Factors that are more fundamental to human action. In this sense, Human Factors are layered.