SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

Why Is Teamwork Important?

Teamwork is a word used often in the workplace. We’ve all heard that it’s important to work together. Why cover the same ground again?

Lack of teamwork can have serious safety consequences. In aviation, our jobs affect others. Even when we seem to be working on our own, our work ties into other parts of the operation.

Safety is part of being a good teammate and teamwork plays a key role in safety. As such, we all take on responsibility for being good teammates and keeping each other safe.

Apathy: The SMS Killer

Apathy is the bane of any aviation safety management system (SMS).

Apathy is the most insidious kind of resistance any aviation safety manager will face. It can take many forms, such as:

• Lack of budget approval
• Lack of participation
• Poor safety reporting numbers
• Lack of accident improvement

How Risk Management Depends on Managers and Employees

As the former Commander of the International Space Station, it is not surprising that in interviews, Chris Hadfield often stresses the importance of effective risk management. Whether for career or pleasure, every aviator experiences a considerable level of risk in their operational environment.

This is epitomized by the life of this former astronaut. Nothing but the thin walls of a pressurized enclosure, hurtling through space at unimaginable speeds, lay between his small team onboard the space station and the cold eternity of space.

The Real Goals of Aviation SMS Training

Organization’s with successful aviation safety management systems (SMS) training strategies universally have very well performing aviation SMS. End of story.

Training can make or break a company.

And let’s be honest, 99% of all training courses you or I have ever attended were dreadfully boring, uninspiring, and (worst of all) forgettable.

There are really only two main goals for training to change. The first goal of aviation SMS training is preparing individuals for how to act safely in all situations, be it

What Is the Human Factor Lack of Awareness

The Human Factor Lack of Awareness is the “dead end” that many other Human Factors lead to. It happens when you are:

• Stressed out;
• Tired and fatigued;
• Under pressure; and
• Distracted by something.

What Is the Human Factor Complacency (Two Types of Complacency)

Human Factor Complacency is one of the most important Human Factors in aviation safety that you need to be aware of.

Complacency can happen with you are feeling satisfied with your level of safety, and it can happen when you are apathetic to your own safety level.

Complacency is the cause of countless safety incidents because of things like:

• You’ve done this task many times with no problem;

What Is a Dying Aviation Risk Management Program

Aviation safety risk management programs are on a spectrum of regression, stagnation, or improvement. What condition is your SMS?

Is your aviation risk management program dying? The truth is that it can be hard to know the current status of your SMS.

Change happens slowly. You may think that your SMS is improving nicely, but then a year later your safety performance is struggling, and you don’t know why. We see it happen with regularity.

Building Hazard Reporting Culture through Convenience

If you want to improve your aviation SMS program’s hazard reporting culture, the first thing you should do is to see if you can make hazard reporting easier.

“Easier” is a tricky word.

Are manual hazard reporting forms easy? The long answer begins with: it depends on the situation. The short answer is: sometimes yes, sometimes no.

It’s the “sometimes no” that you should care about. In your SMS program, in which situation is it not convenient to report issues?

When We Say Promote Safety, What Are We Actually Promoting

Safety promotion plays a crucial role in your aviation safety culture. So when we talk about promoting your SMS, we are really talking about how to build a safety culture in your organization.

By far, safety promotion is often the most neglected portion of SMS. One, promoting the safety program is difficult, and two, it is vastly underrepresented in most aviation compliance authorities’ requirements.

However, the good news is that when we say promote safety, we are actually talking about a small handful of specific things that you are trying to promote:

What Are the Economics of SMS

Despite the having the word “economic,” the economics of SMS are not concerned with money.

Rather, the economics of SMS look at continuous improvement from the standpoint of incentives.

Incentives play a powerful role in your SMS, for better or worse. Safety programs with good incentives generally have employees who:

• Follow the SMS program’s guidelines;
• Are not resist to change;