Aviation safety managers and departments heads are tasked with delivering aviation safety management AND safety leadership capabilities.
“Leadership” and “management” are often used interchangeably both in speech and action, but contrary to common practice they are NOT the same thing.
A vanilla definition of aviation safety management is that it is the oversight of how risk is bureaucratically processed in safety management systems (SMS). Of course, involved in this management process are many actions, such as championing for great aviation SMS reporting tools, risk management tools, and creating documentable safety assurance and promotion practices.
In so many ways, aviation safety management is the quantitative risk management efforts for enhancing the aviation safety management system.
But aviation safety leadership is focused on driving quality interactions within the system, such as:
While the above examples do sound like something you might read in a generic leadership handbook, the basic point is this: safety leadership boils down to qualitative efforts for creating a great, safe place to work. It’s just as important as safety management.
Healthy aviation safety cultures universally are maintained by employees who have a sense of responsibility for:
In aviation SMS, cultivating safety responsibility will come as a direct result of personal interactions between senior management, safety managers, and employees. When accountable executives promote non-punitive reporting policies, and more importantly actually behave with non-punitive actions, organizations mitigate employees' fears of making a mistake.
The fear of retribution from making mistakes is a primary reason why employees don’t speak up or take necessary actions to mitigate a perceived threat.
Four effective practices for safety managers to encourage safety accountability in employees through non-punitive safety culture are:
Point number four is especially important, as it is human nature to have a greater sense of responsibility for things we have “created," or that in which we have a personal "ownership stake."
It’s critical for a leader to understand that an aviation SMS is only as strong as its weakest link.
By “weakest” I mean to say someone who is most likely:
One catastrophic mistake can result in serious consequences, even in adaptable, resilient aviation SMS. Weak links are safety risks and hazards in and of themselves.
However, one of the qualities of adaptable aviation SMS is robust teamwork and strong relationships. In such environments, such “weak links” are scarce. Moreover, we all have various faults (or weak links) in our safety attitude, behaviors, or experience, and part of having a diverse, tight-knit team is balancing such faults.
Understanding where weak links exist – whether it be an employee or the strengths and weaknesses of all employees – should be a major concern of every safety manager. The great relationships that mitigate weak links are a direct result of strong leadership. Safety managers should put extra focus on engaging employees/behaviors that are holding back risk management efforts.
Creating a healthy work environment is probably the main difference between a "safety management" and a "safety leader" in aviation SMS. But too often the M.O. of management is that “I’m the leader because I’m in charge.”
Management is a necessary, rule-based, bureaucratic entity in a system. And as important as management is in SMS, it primarily addresses physical safety. Mental and emotional safety in any system is achieved through management leadership.
Remember that in aviation SMS, leadership isn’t a right, it is earned. What aviation SMS need for a healthy work environment is management that is willing to do what it takes to “earn” their position as leaders. Some examples are:
The above points aren’t easily achieved. They require constant effort and attention on the part of management to be more than simply “in charge.”
The above 3 points on leadership highlight why prescriptive aviation SMS is a problem. Prescriptive SMS focuses exclusively on the bureaucratic side of management’s responsibilities. Their end goal is to merely be operationally compliant.
Of course, compliance is extremely important. But the fact is, safety managers also have a responsibility to be safety leaders and to:
Strong leadership plus compliance are the makings of an adaptable and resilient aviation safety management system.
Successful aviation SMS practice the just culture. Well-drafted non-punitive reporting policies offer employees assurance that your SMS is not a policing tool.
When safety reporting numbers are low, the non-punitive reporting policy is the first item to review. Are you promoting the non-punitive reporting policy? How often? How is the non-punitive reporting policy promoted?
Last updated May 2024.