Simplicity is Important

Australia is moving to mandate Safety Management Systems (SMS) for air transport operations. The new Civil Aviation Safety Regulation (CASR) Part 119 will mandate these systems for commercial passenger carrying operations, however it will not be implemented for some time yet. Amendments to the Civil Aviation Orders will also mandate SMS and provide an interim solution until Part 119 is made.

Proactive operators have already implemented a SMS. In my experience, the enthusiasm to obtain what they perceive as the best system does not always match the operator's capability to maintain and use the system thoughtfully.

A SMS must be entirely suitable to the 'personality' and capability of the business, complement other management systems and the nature of the operations. In other words, the SMS must be appropriate to the business and the operations conducted. For example, a large high capacity air carrier may have an elaborate suite of manuals, a dedicated Safety Manager and support team, a safety magazine, a large safety committee and a complex IT system, whereas, a small operator may have less documentation, a part time Safety Manager, regular safety meetings over an evening drink, a small committee, and a paper based reporting, recording and analysis process.

Almost without exception, if the SMS and the operator are mismatched or misaligned, it will produce a sub-optimal result. In my experience, elaborate systems, without suitable operator capability fall into disuse as soon as the hype dies! Conversely, an overly simplistic system for a large operator will be inefficient, costly and ineffectual. When this occurs, Management looses faith and interest.

Misalignment occurs when the SMS does not complement other management systems. This often occurs when systems evolve as separate projects rather than be fully intergrated into the business. This may lead to corporate confusion, frustration and inefficiency. To counter this, SMS are often intergrated with other management systems (such as Quality Managment Systems). Not surprisingly, Intergrated Safety Managment Systems is becoming more popular.

Safety Managment Systems are only there to enhance safety; not to simply comply with a rule; to keep the clients happy; or to satisfy an insurance requirement - its only about safety! The SMS must match and align with the capability and nature of the operation; otherwise the physical and emotional efforts to establish and maintain a system may result in (some) money wasted. Sometimes less is really more !

Robert Collins | Monday, May 26, 2008 | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink