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

Why You Need to Monitor the Effectiveness of Control Measures

Control measures are the heart of your aviation safety management system’s (SMS) risk mitigation efforts. You may call your "control measures" either:

• Risk controls; or
• Simply "controls."

What Are Control Measures?

When you identify a hazard within your organization, the first step is to analyze the risk. If the risk is high, then you need a control measure to reduce risk to acceptable levels.

Any change made to the existing system to reduce risk is a control measure.

Why Definition of a Hazard Matters

Accuracy is extremely important.

Much of the bureaucracy of safety management systems depend on correct and specific understanding of safety concepts. Misunderstanding definitions in SMS is synonymous with misunderstanding what a safety element is and can compromise how that safety element is:

The SMS Auditors Are Coming!

Aviation SMS audits are necessary to ensure aviation service providers comply with established guidelines. These established guidelines may come from:

Not So Obvious

The line between reactive and proactive safety workplaces is unfortunately not as concrete as anyone would like. If it were so obvious, many organizations would be far less reactive.

Things to Prepare for Aviation SMS Audits

There are many aviation audit checklists available online.

While these checklists offer many specific tasks you need to perform, few checklists offer a broad overview of things that airports, airlines,

What Is a Gap Analysis Used For

Both new and experienced aviation safety professionals sometimes have to ask themselves, what is a gap analysis, and why am I using it?

What Is Risk Assessment in SMS

Risk Assessments in aviation safety management systems (SMS) are how you qualify, quantify, and rank risk exposure for:

• Reported safety issues;
• Audit findings and concerns; and

Relationship Between Aviation Safety Management Systems and Safety Culture

I have recently seen a great rise in the interest and emphasis placed on safety culture in aviation safety management systems (SMS).

Until the last number of years, safety culture has been treated like an appendage or “bonus” to having a performant, successful aviation SMS implementation.

Definition of Aviation SMS Safety Assurance

In November 2006, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) mandated that all member states implement formal aviation safety management systems (SMS).