SMS Pro Aviation Safety Software Blog 4 Airlines & Airports

What Is Cybersecurity

The aviation industry relies heavily on computers for every touchpoint of aviation service, from ground to flight operations. Cybersecurity is a term that refers to the safety of such computer systems – it is also called info-security. If nefarious individuals were able to get access to some of your computer systems, they could pose a catastrophic threat to flight operations.

What Is Proactive Risk Management

Proactive risk management is often esteemed as the “best” type of risk management. This is because proactive risk management usually matures later in SMS implementation. Also, it involves identifying and stopping issues before they occur.

What Is a Management System

The idea of a safety management system (SMS) is something those of us in the aviation risk management industry use as if an SMS were one solid “thing.” But a safety management system is actually made up of multiple ideas, packaged into a single, functioning effort for better aviation safety.

These different ideas are found in its name:

• Aviation;
• Safety;
• Management; and

Who Are You Showing Effectiveness of SMS To

Proving the effectiveness of your aviation safety management system comes in several flavors. Who are you proving the effectiveness to? You might be showing your SMS effectiveness at managing safety to:

• Auditors;
• Investors;

What Is Change Management?

In the aviation industry, it’s important to manage change effectively. Change can be organizational, procedural, or technological.

Change occurs any time an established practice is altered.

Change can seem small, like changing suppliers. Or it could be a large change, like adding a new type of airplane to your feet.

When you plan for changes before they happen, you can take measures to proactively manage risk as well. Managing risk is a fundamental part of managing change.

What Are Classifications in Aviation Risk Management

In SMS, it’s extremely useful to organize reported issues by classifying them with classifications.

A classification is simply a unit of organization. By “unit of organization,” we are talking about a short phrase that describes the safety issue in one way. This issue can be described in terms of:

• It’s “type” of problem, such as “Aircraft damage in hangar”;
• It’s a central issue (hazard), such as "Runway excursion";

4 Aviation Safety Management Practices to Apply in Aviation Maintenance

In aviation maintenance, as in all other aspects of the aviation sector, safety is paramount. 4 safety management practices that can be applied to make any maintenance operation safer are:

• Use of tangible metrics to measure effectiveness
• Open communication between management and operational employees;

What Does It Mean to Practice Due Diligence

Two general aspects of safety management systems encompass due diligence of the entire SMS: SMS design and actual safety operations.

Practicing due diligence means ensuring that the design closely matches reality.

To use aviation safety lingo:

• Safety Risk Management process should encompass the design of your SMS;
• Safety Assurance process reflects actual safety operations; and

What Are Problems With Traditional Record Keeping

Tracking employees' documents and records is one of the most important documentation tasks aviation service providers have. This is especially true in the case of pilots, where poor record-keeping can result in regulatory fines.

Most aviation service providers manage their record keeping manually, such as in:

What Is Optimized Pilot Records Management

Aviation service providers are well aware importance of tracking pilots’ records and documents.

At any given time, an aviation service provider may have dozens of records that require action. Especially when these records are being documented in something like an Excel spreadsheet.

Sound familiar?

Managing all of these records can: