As a SMS trainer with many years experience and many courses successfully delivered, it is clearly evident that the biggest challenge every organisation faces is for sure connected to making this part of the process work for “your” organisation.
Where are the challenges
Well the first one is chronic under reporting – simply people are not reporting partly culture and partly nature this requires a step change and it also requires the buy in of a dedicated and motivated management. We also need to develop adequate and effective feedback systems which reward the reporter with status information in respect of their individual contribution.
The second one is that many people really do not know what to report, people who advise the author that they have completed SMS training in their organisations but in fact cannot describe the difference between a hazard and a risk (fundamental considerations to deal effectively with the development of appropriate mitigation’s). We should have strong guidance information, criteria and support so that potential reporters understand what is expected of them and how they may fulfill this expectation
The third one relates to the competence and skill level required to perform appropriate analysis. We have to be able to evaluate the risk or exposure and to develop appropriate mitigation’s which can be offered to the business area owner for due consideration.Practical Training can go a long way to developing a strong and effective team who have experience with making risk based and root cause analysis based on a full understanding of the available data.
The fourth is that the regulatory authority (competent authority) struggles to deliver a successful audit of the SMS – Why? Well simply because the SMS is a performance system and regulatory is normally comfortable swimming in the world of compliance audits and to assess a system where the result is as low as reasonably practical (ALARP) causes consternation for many auditors.
The organisation will not change the approach of external auditors but should recognize the importance of developing internal measures which can be used to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the SMS – such measures should be acceptable to the management team and the business area owners as the primary stake holders in the effectiveness of the Safety Management System.
Sofema Aviation Services currently offers more than 20 Safety Management system related courses including detailed SMS implementation courses which may include detailed workshops specific to the organisation designed to support the initial stages of the optimization program.
For details please see www.sassofia.com or email office@sassofia.com
