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Nowadays, living in a world where language is often renovated and sometimes wording goes beyond hermeneutical knowledge, we find the need to determine what safety is. Following the Oxford Dictionary, safety means:
The state of being protected from or guarded against hurt or injury; freedom from danger.
To make safe or secure; to protect against failure, hazard, or damage
Clearly, the act of flying itself involves inherent danger. Therefore, the focus of our topic today will be intrinsically related to the definitions mentioned above. We assume that there is an intrinsic danger in flying; however, we choose to acknowledge that danger can be controlled, even though we cannot control all possible scenarios and destiny’s uncertainties. Therefore, we must adopt a strategy to reduce that danger to the absolute minimum while always bearing in mind its existence.
In ICAO words; Safety means:
The state in which risks associated with aviation activities, related to, or in direct support of the operation of aircraft, are reduced and controlled to an acceptable level.
WHAT IS SMS ( SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM)?
It is a management of a controlled risk that combined with an organised approach becomes a tool to assess, monitor, and prevent accidents using a systematic approach in other words , according to an agreed set of methods or organised plan. So therefore, it involved a wide scope of actors; organizations, manufactures, airline companies, training facilities etc.
The four SMS Components
"The plan of action"
"The plan of action"
Establishes management commitment to safety performance through SMS
Establishes clear safety objectives and commitment to manage to those objectives
Defines methods, processes, and organizational structure needed to meet safety goals
Safety policy
Safety policy
Establishes senior management's commitment to continually improve safety; defines the methods, processes, and organizational structure needed to meet safety goals
"The frontline soldier"
"The frontline soldier"
A formal process within the SMS composed of:
Describing the system
Identifying the hazards
Assessing the risk
Analyzing the risk
Controlling the risk
Safety risk management ( SRM)
Safety risk management ( SRM)
Determines the need for, and adequacy of, new or revised risk controls based on the assessment of acceptable risk
"The devil's avocate"
"The devil's avocate"
Ensures compliance with SMS requirements and FAA orders, standards, policies, and directives
Information Acquisition
Data Analysis
System Assessment
Provides insight and analysis regarding methods/opportunities for improving safety and minimizing risk
Existing assurance functions will continue to evaluate and improve service
Safety assurance (SA)
Safety assurance (SA)
Evaluates the continued effectiveness of implemented risk control strategies; supports the identification of new hazards
"The propaganda machinery"
"The propaganda machinery"
Providing SMS training
Advocating/strengthening a positive safety culture
System and safety communication and awareness
Matching competency requirements to system requirements
Disseminating safety lessons learned
Safety promotion
Safety promotion
Includes training, communication, and other actions to create a positive safety culture within all levels of the workforce
Safety Risk Management (SRM) and Safety Assurance (SA) are the key processes of the SMS
Safety Risk Management (SRM) and Safety Assurance (SA) are the key processes of the SMS. They are also highly interactive. The flowchart below may be useful to help visualize these components and their interactions. The interface attribute concerns the input-output relationships between the activities in the processes. This is especially important where interfaces between processes involve interactions between different departments, contractors, etc. Assessments of these relationships should pay special attention to flow of authority, responsibility and communication, as well as procedures and documentation.
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