SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

What Is Safety Assurance in Aviation SMS

For an aviation safety management system (SMS) to be effective, the SMS must be monitored to assure managers and regulatory authorities that the SMS is both

• implemented correctly, and
• working as designed.

An ICAO-compliant SMS is structured around four main components, which are also known as the Four Pillars. The third aviation SMS component is Safety Assurance (SA).

Why Classifications Are Important in Risk Management Activities

The objective of aviation safety management systems (SMS) is proactively manage safety using structured risk management processes.

Once operators have these processes in place, it is the civil aviation authorities (CAA) expectation for aviation service providers to able to use all four SMS components (also known as pillars) to enhance their capability to identify safety issues and spot trends before they result in a

• near-miss,
• incident, or

What Is Data Mining in Aviation SMS?

Data mining is a critical, intermittent risk management activity safety managers need to perform in their aviation safety management systems (SMS) to organize, understand, and process collected safety data acquired during the organization's risk management processes.

Data mining techniques can be performed with a modest, home-grown aviation safety database and simple tools, or with complex software and professional, commercially available aviation safety databases.

Why It’s Important to Understand the Difference Between Assessment and Analysis

In aviation safety management systems (SMS), one of the main activities that senior managers and safety teams will undertake will be to

1. identify hazards;
2. evaluate risk associated with these hazards; and
3. determine whether existing risk controls are adequate.

Time to Be Honest About Your Aviation SMS Implementation

Creating successful aviation safety management systems (SMS) requires a great deal of honesty on the part of:

• accountable executives;
• operational department heads;
• safety management teams; and
• front-line employees.

In many cases, managers and employees alike tend to wear rose-colored glasses when evaluating operational safety and the efficacy of their SMS implementation.

What Is Continuous Improvement in Aviation SMS

The purpose of aviation safety management systems (SMS) is to ensure aviation service providers have a structured, formal process to manage safety, thereby reducing risk to the "transportation system."

Aviation SMS implementations are designed to continuously improve safety performance by:

• Identifying and documenting safety hazards;
• Collecting and analyzing safety data;

Purpose of Safety Performance Assessment in Safety Assurance Pillar

If you cannot measure safety performance in your aviation safety management systems (SMS), then:

• How do you know whether your operations are as safe as can be reasonably expected?
• How can you set safety goals and objectives when you don't have actionable intelligence to assist in fact-based decision-making processes?
• How do you know your aviation SMS is driving operational performance improvements?

Aviation Safety Management Systems Are Defined by Interactions

Aviation safety management systems (SMS) need certain interactions or features within the system for it to be successful.

Interactions in aviation SMS always denote a relationship between two parts. These parts can be any aspect of the SMS implementation's moving parts, such as its:

• Employees;
• Managers;
• Interfaces (internal and external departments);

Why Aviation SMS Audits Are Important

The objective of Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) is to:

• Proactively manage safety to reduce risk;
• Identify potential safety hazards;
• Determine operational risk, and
• Implement control measures mitigating identified risk.

What Is Safety Assurance for FAA

Safety Assurance is designed to ensure that aviation service providers have the ability to manage safety risks effectively using a structured, prescribed approach to managing identified safety concerns.

The purpose of aviation safety management systems (SMS) is to provide operators with a "systematic approach to managing safety. Yet there are no standards that every operator must follow, as the range of aviation industry segments is vast, just as the size and complexity of the thousands of service providers around the world.