Introduction by Steve Bentley, CEO of Sofema Aviation Services (www.sassofia.com)
What do Organisations think about SMS its role and concept?
This is actually a very interesting question and has multiple answers depending on both the role of the person and the culture of the organisation.
Some organisations recognise the value and fully buy into every element and facet of the SMS Eco System.
Unfortunately, there are other organisations who see SMS as a burden (almost in terms of compliance/obligation) which is placed on the organisation.
Sofema Aviation Services – agrees 100% with the following sentiments expressed here by EASA.
What does EASA say about SMS withina n Aviation Organisation?
“Traditional cost-benefit analyses (CBA) generally focus on determining costs associated with implementation, usually for tangible assets such as costs of system components and salaries, and on estimating related return on investment in financial terms.
However, CBA for SMS is more challenging due to the very nature of ‘safety’. Intangible benefits, such as improved safety culture, effective regulatory compliance, management commitment to safety, shareholder value, and public confidence are difficult to quantify.
Also, an effective management system including safety risk management results from the interactions of many different organisational elements, actions, and processes that are ideally embedded within the organisation’s existing system.
Therefore, the effects of individual elements of the management system framework are not always easy to isolate for the purpose of CBA.
For example, the overall impact of effective implementation on the organisation’s safety culture may be significantly greater than a sophisticated CBA may suggest. It is also acknowledged that SMS creates immediate and direct costs, while its benefits will likely take time to materialise.
This view negates the potential of SMS not only to address the risks of major occurrences, but also to identify and tackle production inefficiencies, improve communication, foster better company culture, and control more effectively contractors and suppliers.
Building up risk management capabilities not only limited to aviation safety risks will contribute to the adoption of better management strategies. In addition, through an improved relationship with competent authorities, management system implementation including safety risk management could result in a reduced oversight burden.
Although traditionally aviation safety regulations have not been primarily driven by cost-benefit considerations, SMS should bring about greater regulator sensitivity to the economics of safety. Thus, by considering SMS as something implemented not solely to prevent incidents and accidents but to ensure the success of as many elements of an organisation’s business as possible, any investment in safety should be seen as an investment in productivity and organisational success.”
Summary
An active “organisation-wide” SMS with effective safety management and “total” buy-in from the Leadership Team will act as an important positive for the success of the Project.
www.sassofia.com and www.sofemaonline.com offer EASA compliant regulatory & vocational training. Please see the website or email office@sasssofia.com or online@sassofia.com
Tags:
EASA, Safety Management systems, Safety Culture, SMS, Aviation Safety Management
