Safety Management System

IF we see these guys its too late to do anything about SMS!





As we all know the FAA is considering requiring us as airport operators to implement a safety management system (SMS). This is spelled out in advisory circular 150/5200-37. They give the definition of a SMS as the “The application of a systematic, proactive, and well-defined safety program (as is inherent in a SMS) allows an organization producing a product or service to strike a realistic and efficient balance between safety and production” (AC 150/5200-37). Now what that means without all the lawyer talk is a basic change in how we approach each day. It starts with a top down approach and do we as airport operators encourage our subordinates to follow a safety culture? Do we provide our workers the resources to enhance the safety of the environment that each of us knows and loves? Do we review small non incidents with a critical but non judgmental eye? Do we reward initiative to help develop a safety conscious work environment? It’s not enough to just say we require our subordinates to start thinking about safety. You have to begin with the training and development of the basic skills and questions that the SMS brings to the table.


SMS is broken down into four elements. They are

• Safety Policy and Objectives
• Safety Risk Management
• Safety Assurance
• Safety Promotion.


Now how we each approach these four portions of the SMS is where the discussion begins?

An organization is always based on its policy and objectives, so it is only natural that the first portion of a SMS is the Safety Policy and Objectives. When developing a safety policy you need to remember that this is the base line you as an operator use to develop your SMS. The policy should include the commitment of top level managers to promote and develop the SMS. It should also include the idea that safety is an on going process that should be implemented in every task that a person takes on. Another important step is to make sure that your employees understand with this statement that they will not face retribution for reporting safety issues. If an employee does not feel comfortable coming to you then how are we ever going to be able to get a SMS off the ground. The last two steps contain a commitment of resources and desire to put safety as a priority. I know that many airports are strapped for cash as it is but it’s important to realize that a SMS will never get off the drawing board if the money isn’t there.

Safety Risk Management is the heart of the SMS system. Basically it is the systematic approach to identifying safety risks and ways to mitigate these risks. At larger airports this is accomplished by having a safety risk manager whose full time job is to review each procedure for possible safety concerns. Now at smaller airports a senior employee may take on this role with the help of a safety management team. Each person would take time to do unscheduled safety audits of random processes of airport operations. Now besides the audits a SMS should have a way of reporting safety concerns without punitive action. This sometimes is the hardest thing for a manager to accomplish. When someone reports something the natural human reaction is to punish that person for causing this safety issue. This is not a good management practice; we all remember being the person on the wrong end of a mistake being yelled at doesn’t effectively attack the problem of mitigating a safety concern.

The last portion of a SMS is Safety promotion. This comes back to proper training, reward for mitigating safety concerns, and the development of the safety culture. It is basically the process in which you develop the basic skills that help mitigating safety concerns and maintaining a safe environment.

The FAA will eventually require us all to have a SMS in place as part of our 139 certificate. It will take an effort on our parts to make this system work. You have to start at the beginning and build up just like everything.

drew@139airportsafety.com