As a new aviation safety manager, stepping into the complex world of Safety Management Systems (SMS) can feel like navigating a turbulent sky. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) set stringent standards to ensure safety, and leveraging advanced data mining strategies is critical to meeting these requirements while proactively managing risks.
Topics: Key Performance Indicators, Aviation SMS Database, 3-Safety Assurance, Risk Management Software, Quality-Safety Management
Aviation operations worldwide depend on vendors for critical services, from aircraft maintenance in global hubs to fueling in remote airstrips, making their alignment with Safety Management Systems (SMS) through auditing a cornerstone of safety.
Vendor audits systematically evaluate suppliers’ safety practices, ensuring they meet SMS standards and mitigate risks that could lead to incidents. For aviation safety managers, auditing vendors is not just a regulatory requirement but a strategic tool to foster a unified safety culture across diverse operations.
Below is a detailed description of how SMS Pro (asms-pro.com), a web-based aviation Safety Management System (SMS) software, addresses the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CAR) 107 requirements for aviation service providers. Each CAR 107 requirement is mapped to SMS Pro’s capabilities, with specific modules identified where applicable, based on information from the SMS Pro website and related sources. The response also notes any potential limitations where SMS Pro may not fully address a requirement.
Topics: Key Performance Indicators, Aviation SMS Database, 4-Safety Promotion, 3-Safety Assurance, 1-Safety Policy, 2-Safety Risk Management, Quality-Safety Management
In aviation safety risk management, the risk matrix is a critical tool for assessing and prioritizing hazards, enabling organizations to maintain a robust Safety Management System (SMS). For U.S.-based aviation operators, ensuring that the risk matrix aligns with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) risk assessment requirements, as outlined in 14 CFR Part 5 and associated guidance, is essential for regulatory compliance and effective safety management.
A compliant risk matrix not only satisfies FAA audits but also enhances decision-making and fosters a proactive safety culture.
Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation, 2-Safety Risk Management, Quality-Safety Management
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.
Topics: Quality-Safety Management
How aviation safety managers conduct oversight is extremely important for the success or failure of the aviation safety management system (SMS).
The particular management style of a safety manager determines how willingly employees will interact with aviation SMS. Will they sincerely accept the demands placed on them by the SMS? Or will they rebel silently and look for ways to subvert the SMS?
What kind of style do you use as a safety manager?
Topics: Quality-Safety Management
The actions employees take immediately in response to an emergency will greatly affect the outcome of the emergency. In such situations, employees’ actions may largely be the deciding factor between catastrophic consequences and a scary but benign outcome.
Consequences can be
Topics: Quality-Safety Management
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.
Topics: Quality-Safety Management
Responsibility n. the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone. (Oxford Dictionary)
Most of us learned about responsibility as children. Our parents gave us responsibilities like walking the dog or loading the dishwasher. As adults, we’re responsible for paying our bills, finishing our tasks at work, and doing the laundry.
Topics: Quality-Safety Management
Repeat safety incidents are extremely indicative of management’s safety performance in mitigating safety concerns.
Having repeat safety incidents is clear evidence that management is “missing” or “overlooking” something when they are correcting reported safety concerns.
Topics: Quality-Safety Management
These two on-demand videos offer:
