Airline Safety and Safety Management Systems (SMS)

Posted on Mar 21, 2025 in Architecture

Airline Roles in Aviation Safety and Safety Management Systems (SMS)

Airlines and Safety: The Relationship

  • Identify and control safety problems.
  • Good safety is essential to a healthy company.
  • Effective safety programs can be directly linked to good airline management.

Historical Involvement of Airlines

  • Early airlines created safety committees.
  • Caused formation of the US government aviation accident investigation agency (now NTSB).
  • Traditionally approached safety as a normal product of good management.
  • Airlines implemented special programs and training, including:
    • Standardization programs
    • Flight data analysis
    • Communications training
    • CRM (Crew Resource Management)

Recent Threats to Airline Safety

  • Increasing numbers of non-aviators in airline upper management.
  • Effects of deregulation and liberalization (competition):
    • Increased “business” emphasis
    • Down-sizing
    • Out-sourcing
    • Wage reductions
    • Personnel turbulence
    • Decreased morale

Airline Safety Departments

  • Airlines are required to create company safety departments.
  • Two responsibilities:
    • Occupational health and safety
    • Aviation safety
  • NOT a compliance or enforcement entity:
    • Provide service, training, and support.
    • Conduct safety audits.
  • Compliance is the responsibility of line organization managers.

Safety Responsibilities

  • Technical risk analyses.
  • FAA/NTSB Communication.
  • Communication and information/data sharing with manufacturers.
  • Technical communications to flight crew.
  • Technical investigations and analysis.
  • Identification of future safety issues.

Flight Safety Focus: Specific Risk Exposure

  • Quickly identify developing negative trends and high-risk events.
  • Establishment and exploitation of databases:
    • Engine in-flight failures
    • Engine shut-downs
    • Hydraulic system failures
    • Depressurizations
    • Takeoff aborts
    • Flight control failures
    • Tire failures
    • Aircraft fire incidents
    • Flight-related injuries

Flight Safety Focus: Risk Analysis/Assignment

  • Analysis of various risks.
  • Determination of risk-reduction priorities.
  • Assignment of risk-reduction responsibilities.
  • Communication of pertinent information for risk-reduction actions:
    • Material failures primarily to technical services, maintenance, and engineering elements.
    • Human failures to employee groups such as pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics.

Flight Safety Focus: Communications of Safety Information

  • Airline with FAA and NTSB.
  • Airline with manufacturers.
  • Flight crews with maintenance/engineering.
  • Flight crews with airline safety.
  • Maintenance with airline safety.
  • Maintenance with FAA.

Pilot Union Roles in Safety

  • Provide channels of communication.
  • Stimulate safety awareness among pilots.
  • Make safety recommendations to airlines and government agencies.
  • Participate in accident investigations.
  • Address safety problems from three perspectives:
    • By airline
    • By geographic area
    • By subject

Pilot Union Technical Committees

  • Unions form specialized “technical committees” comprised of union pilots to address the issues. Typical topical areas include:
    • Accident investigation
    • Accident survival
    • Airport standards
    • Air traffic control
    • Airworthiness and aircraft performance

The Emergence of SMS

  • Aviation accident rates have stabilized.
  • The only way to make improvements?
    • Change the way we “do business.”
    • Change our mindsets.
    • Change our organizational culture.
  • The answer?
    • A new approach to safety.
    • Addressing safety systemically and comprehensively.

What is a Safety Management System?

  • An SMS is a systematic, proactive, comprehensive, and business-like approach to managing safety risk.
  • Involves all levels and elements of an organization—from top leadership to the lowest workers.
  • Facilitates a realistic and efficient balance between safety and production.
  • Increases the likelihood of detecting and correcting safety problems before accidents/incidents occur.

Requisites for an SMS

  • Senior management commitment to safety:
    • Attitudes, decisions, methods, resources.
    • Clear duties, procedures, and reporting lines.
    • Review safety performance in addition to financial performance.
  • Development of a “safety culture”:
    • Structural aspects.
    • Attitudinal aspects.

The “Four Pillars” of a Safety Management System

  1. Safety policies and objectives.
  2. Safety risk management.
  3. Safety assurance.
  4. Safety promotion.

A Safety Policy

  • Signed by top management.
  • Have the following attributes:
    • Commitment of senior management to SMS.
    • Commitment to continual safety improvement.
    • Encouragement of employees to report safety issues without fear of reprisal.
    • Commitment to provide necessary safety resources.
    • Commitment to make safety the highest priority.

Safety Risk Management

  • Phase 1: Describe the safety system of the airport/airline environment.
  • Phase 2: Identify hazards.
  • Phase 3: Determine the risk.
  • Phase 4: Assess and analyze the risk (Use of risk matrix).
  • Phase 5: Treat the risk (avoid, mitigate, control, monitor, track) to As Low As Reasonably Possible (ALARP).

Safety Assurance

  • Is the core safety management activity.
  • Includes the process of self-auditing, external auditing, and safety oversight.
  • Key elements of audits:
    • Safety performance indicator and targets.
    • Adequate resources for safety audits.
    • Non-punitive safety reporting program.
    • Systematic review of all safety info/feedback.
    • Communication of findings and implementation of mitigation strategies.
    • A systems approach to safety over the entire organization.

SA-Performance Monitoring and Measurement

  • Continuous monitoring
  • Internal audits
  • External audits
  • Investigations
  • Employee reporting system
  • Analysis of data
  • System assessment

Safety Promotion

  • Training and education:
    • Initial and recurrent.
    • Safety/SMS subjects and trade-skills related.
    • Human and organizational factors.
    • Documentation and validation of training.
  • Safety communication:
    • Bulletin-boards.
    • E-mail.
    • Safety letters, notices, and bulletins.
    • Lessons learned.
  • Safety competence and continuous improvement.