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

Do I Have What It Takes to Be an Aviation Safety Manager?

One of the most difficult tasks for new and aspiring safety managers is to acquire their first job.

This is especially true for those fresh out of schools, such as Embry-Riddle or Florida's Institute of Technology. If you are on the other side of the Atlantic, you may have gone to Cranfield's safety program.

Do You Have the Aviation Safety Manager Job?

If you have been a safety manager for years now, do you remember when you first started? So many questions, such as: Where do I start?

It can be frightening to be suddenly assigned as the safety manager when you know very little about what the "safety manager" does every day.

What Is This SMS Thing?

What’s the first thing you do when you want to answer a question? You Google it, right? Well, when you Google "aviation SMS", this is what the FAA will tell you:

What Is It Like to Lose Control of Your Aviation SMS

Losing control of your aviation SMS is largely a product of feeling overwhelmed by all the actions, documentation, and tasks required to implement and monitor safety.

While it is possible for safety culture to erode over time, to the point where the SMS does not perform well,

What Is Too Much to Handle

We talk with aviation safety professionals and business executives every day about their struggles with implementing and managing an SMS.

Inevitably, all aviation safety programs will reach a point of growth where it is getting too much to handle.

What Is Phase 4 of Aviation SMS Implementation

Phase 4 of SMS implementation is all about following through on designing your SMS, and moving forward with actually using the created resources and monitoring your SMS. For example, in Phase 3 of SMS implementation you are required to create KPIs, and in Phase 4 you are required to monitor them.

What Is Phase 3 of Aviation SMS Implementation

Phase 3 of Aviation SMS implementation is largely about implementing your Safety Risk Management process. Your SRM process is where you document and design your safety management system. Designing your SMS is a two-step process:

What Is Phase 2 of Aviation SMS Implementation?

Phase 2 of SMS Implementation is largely dedicated to documenting foundational, core, elements of your safety management system.

The result of implementing Phase 2 is an SMS Safety Policy that all employees can reference to understand:

What Is Phase 1 of Aviation SMS Implementation

Phase 1 of Aviation SMS implementation involves activities that lay the groundwork you will need to begin implementing other parts of your SMS, such as critical processes and policy.

Phase 1 of aviation SMS has the goal of answering like:

What Does It Mean to “Switch” SMS Program

If you’re reading this, it means you are considering or curious about what it takes to switch your safety management system. But, what are we talking about when we say “switch” your SMS program. There are a couple of possible scenarios that you should consider: