SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

How to Define Acceptable Level of Safety (ALoS) in Aviation SMS

Posted by Tyler Britton on Sep 13, 2023 6:10:00 AM

What Is an Acceptable Level of Safety (ALoS)

The objective of aviation safety management systems (SMS) is to

  1. Proactively manage safety,
  2. Identify and report potential safety hazards,
  3. Determine risk to operational safety; and
  4. Implement risk controls to mitigate identified risk.
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Topics: Quality-Safety Management

Audit Checklist: 10 Things to Prepare for Aviation SMS Audits

Posted by Tyler Britton on Aug 30, 2023 6:05:00 AM

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, and other aviation service providers should do to augment audit performance.

The purpose of aviation safety management systems (SMS) is to continuously improve safety performance while also improving the business' operational processes. This continuous improvement is expected to be realized by:

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Topics: 3-Safety Assurance, Quality-Safety Management

5 Components of Safety Culture in Aviation SMS - with Examples and Resources

Posted by Tyler Britton on Aug 9, 2023 6:03:00 AM

What Is Safety Culture in Aviation SMS

There are many possible definitions of safety culture in aviation safety management systems (SMS). Generic definitions focus on:

  • Attitudes;
  • Behaviors; and
  • Values.

While these points certainly are a core part of safety culture, they are also unhelpfully vague. What is more helpful is: what does safety culture look like in the operational environment?

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Topics: Quality-Safety Management

4 Pillars | What Safety Assurance Really Means in Aviation SMS

Posted by Tyler Britton on May 3, 2023 5:59:00 AM

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). To facilitate compliance, ICAO guided regulatory authorities and aviation service providers with the publication of the Safety Management Manual (SMM), now in the fourth edition as of 2019.

An aviation SMS implementation covers considerable territory, including, but not limited to:

  • Safety accountabilities;
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Topics: 3-Safety Assurance, Quality-Safety Management

Advanced Aviation SMS: Science and Technology Required for Profits

Posted by Christopher Howell on Mar 8, 2021 5:45:00 AM

Science and Technology in Aviation Business Drive Revenues

Aviation safety management systems (SMS) needlessly continue to remain unprofitable after almost fifteen years.

Your aviation SMS also fails to produce profits. Why?

Science and technology are not applied with equal zeal as other high-tech-aviation systems. SMS economic disappointments are very easily seen in smaller operators with fewer than 500 employees. This inequality of high-technology adoption creates financial hardships for smaller operators without the education or capital to implement expert systems that minimize financial costs and human efforts required to demonstrate regulatory SMS compliance.

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Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation, Quality-Safety Management

Advanced Aviation SMS: Top Management Support Drives SMS Profits

Posted by Christopher Howell on Mar 3, 2021 6:00:00 AM

Management's Absence Creates SMS Adoption Challenges

Many newly-appointed safety managers try to single-handedly push their organization's aviation safety management systems (SMS) to success. Safety managers are hired to perform an ambitious undertaking that is not heartily welcomed by the entire organization.

SMS implementations require consistent change management activities. These activities naturally induce frustration and resistance to change.

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Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation, 1-Safety Policy, Quality-Safety Management

Checklist for Proactive Safety Culture in Aviation SMS [With Free Resources]

Posted by Christopher Howell on Mar 16, 2020 5:46:00 AM

What Is Proactive Safety Culture in Aviation SMS

The purpose of an aviation safety management system (SMS) is to formally manage operational safety risk to as low as reasonably practical (ALARP). This objective will never be fully achieved unless aviation service providers maintain healthy safety reporting numbers.

In order to optimize safety reporting metrics, an operator must have a safety culture that continually promotes safety and encourages employees to report every potential safety issue, whether the issue is real or imagined. The rule of thumb should be "report everything and let the safety team determine the level of safety risk."

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Topics: Quality-Safety Management

5 Core Rules for Risk Analysis Process in Aviation SMS Implementations

Posted by Tyler Britton on Feb 24, 2020 5:59:00 AM

What Is Risk Analysis in Aviation SMS?

Unless you are new to aviation safety management systems (SMS), safety professionals recognize that the objective of aviation SMS is to:

  • Proactively manage safety using documented risk management processes;
  • Identify potential operational safety hazards;
  • Evaluate risk;
  • Implement control measures that mitigate identified risk; and
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Topics: Quality-Safety Management

How to Conduct Internal SMS Audits in Aviation Industry

Posted by Tyler Britton on Nov 21, 2019 6:03:00 AM

What Are Internal SMS Audits in Aviation, and Why Conduct Them

Internal SMS audits are an extremely important element in verifying the performance of every aviation safety management system (SMS). They’re also a neglected process in a surprisingly large number of smaller operators' SMS risk management schedules.

Just ask yourself, when was the last time you performed an internal audit on your aviation SMS implementation? Let’s also be clear about what we mean when we say “audit”, as this word is thrown around loosely.

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Topics: Quality-Safety Management

What Emergency Response Plans Are (and Why You Need It)

Posted by Tyler Britton on Nov 14, 2019 5:50:00 AM

What an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) Is

The actions taken within the first 5 minutes of an emergency can largely dictate the severity of consequences. In this case, “severity of consequences” can involve catastrophic financial, environmental, or material damage, and/or major loss of life.

Employees need a plan of action to count on when emergencies strike in order to minimize damages.

An emergency response plan is a manual that companies use to address many different types of emergencies.

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Topics: Quality-Safety Management

Site content provided by Northwest Data Solutions is meant for informational purposes only. Opinions presented here are not provided by any civil aviation authority or standards body.

 

 

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