SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

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

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

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.

Making Decisions About QMS and SMS in Aviation Safety Management

Recently, there has been a significant rise in the interest in reducing data management complexity and increasing synergies by integrating quality management systems (QMS) and safety management systems (SMS) in the aviation industry.

How SMS Affects Companies’ Finances

While the safety benefits are often stressed far more than the financial benefits of aviation safety management systems (SMS), this is a mistake. When companies benefit financially from a safety initiative, what this means is that they benefit financially because the safety initiative is actually improving safety.

First Thing to Prepare for Aviation SMS Audits

Audits can be extremely stressful. Especially if things haven't been going well in your aviation safety management system (SMS) in terms of performance or implementation progress.

At this point, there's only one thing that you need to do before anything else:

• Relax.

No audit is going to be perfect. There are going to be findings. Obviously, the fewer, the better.

Benefits of Integrating QMS and SMS

Historically, quality management systems (QMS) and safety management systems (SMS) have been implemented and managed as two entirely separate entities. Today this separation persists in many if not most, companies. This is an unfortunate fact because integrating QMS and SMS provides a great opportunity for organizations to:

Different Investigator Activities on Safety Issues

Managing safety issues in aviation SMS is largely about performing various investigatory activities to make good safety decisions. Investigatory activities are usually conducted by:

• Safety managers;
• Department heads;
• Subject-matter experts; and/or
• Safety committees.

What Are Responsibility, Confidentiality, and Privacy in Aviation Safety Management

In aviation safety management, responsibility, confidentiality, and privacy are the triad that affects how you handle reported safety information. Whether your organization is large or small, your leadership team needs to discuss these factors and decide how to handle them.

Your organization may decide that it doesn’t need to pay particular attention to this triad,

What Are Risk Management Tools

Risk management tools in aviation SMS is simply a vague term that refers to resources that can help you manage risk. Often, the most beneficial resources tend to be simple, inexpensive, and helpful for both providing guidance and helping you organize your time.

By “simple tools” we are talking about risk management tools like:

• Checklists;
• Templates;