Required by International Civil Aviation Organisation ICAO Standard and recommended Practice SARP since January 2009. It has taken many years to reach the current position in our industry.
To achieve full integration will as industry professionals will agree requires a significant journey ahead. It was not until in fact the 1990’s that we started to accept the concept of organisational culpability in regard to the accident and incidents and the related exposures moreover the term “organizational accident” was coined in recognition of the fact that many if not most of the precursors that lead to accidents are under the control of the organization rather than “individuals”.
Once we accept that the most significant threats faced by an Aviation Organisation which are in some way connected to aviation safety are in fact found to be embedded within organizations process procedures and culture of behaviour.
If we want to develop a system which will limit our exposure to incidents and accidents we require a dedicated and fully integrated organisational organizational action.
A fully integrated Safety Management Systems (SMS) provides for a systematic approach to safety management in organizations.
SMS is the formal, top-down business approach to managing safety risk, which includes a systemic approach to managing safety, including the necessary organizational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures. It concerns itself totally with the management of the risk faced by the organization. Correctly implemented SMS can becomes an integral part of our organizational culture.
In essence SMS provides the organization with the tools and methodology to identify, anticipate and mitigate safety issues before they are able to become incidents or accidents.
Moreover if managed in an effective way an SMS can actually pay for itself by reducing losses across the business and improve productivity.
A key feature of an SMS is that it holds frontline managers accountable for the delivery of the SMS within their business areas to include safety performance
With an effective Safety Management System we will have a structured means of delivering safety risk management. A process whereby we can gather data which helps us to develop an increased confidence in creating risk controls though a systematic and structured delivery processes.
Key benefits of a fully integrated SMS includes for more informed decision-making and the enabling of better resource allocation that should ultimately result in increased efficiencies and reduced costs.
It can also help to strengthens corporate culture as well as demonstrate corporate due-diligence.
Sofema Aviation Services www.sassofia.com has been providing Safety Management System Training for more than 8 years.
For further information please visit our website or email office@sassofia.com
