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

Problems Monitoring Control Measures to Reduce Risk

An SMS provides management with a framework to facilitate decision-making and to dynamically shape the operating environment. Continuous improvement is a core element of every mature SMS.

Purpose of Risk Analysis

In aviation SMS, you analyze risk to break an issue down into individual, controllable parts. Based on your analysis, you can assess the safety issue, and understand both what actions need to be taken, and what safety factors need to be better controlled.

What Is a Risk Assessment

A risk assessment is a method you use to rank the risk of safety issues. You will commonly perform risk assessments on reported safety issues and other identified hazards. Assessments are integral to helping you establish whether or not a given issue is within an Acceptable Level of Safety.

What Is Safety Assurance Process in Aviation SMS

Safety Assurance in aviation SMS is a process that helps you ensure that your SMS is functioning as designed. Safety Assurance is most closely associated with Phase 4 of SMS implementation. Implementing Phase 4 largely involves implementing to:

Problems With Aviation Safety Departments vs Operations

Aviation service providers are in business to provide a service. While some providers are government-funded, most offer their services to achieve common strategic business objectives, namely:

• Increased market share;
• Increased financial or physical resources; or

Who Are You Showing Effectiveness of SMS To

Proving the effectiveness of your aviation safety management system comes in several flavors. Who are you proving the effectiveness to?

What Are ICAO Hazard Identification Compliance Requirements

ICAO’s hazard identification compliance requirements are twofold:

• (2.1.1) Develop formal process for hazard identification; and
• (2.1.2) Use reactive, proactive, and predictive to identify hazards.

Being compliant with these requirements involves, like anything else in SMS, doing and documenting. You need to document your process and how you use various risk management techniques for hazard identification, and you need to follow through.

Understanding Vendor Safety Assessments in Aviation SMS

Vendors and contractors play a large role in today's aviation industry. It is common for aviation service providers to employ the services of a dozen or more vendors to help the operator fulfill their mission. There are some companies with literally hundreds of suppliers.

Why Evaluate and Justify Risk Controls in Aviation SMS

If there is one thing all aviation compliance authority guidelines (including ICAO) agree upon, it’s that your aviation safety mitigation controls need to be thoroughly analyzed BEFORE you implement them.

What Is Safety Performance Monitoring and Measurement

Safety performance monitoring and measurement is an extremely important part of Safety Assurance. It’s how you verify the safety performance of your organization.