Safety Management System Prerequisites
Essential prerequisites for a successful Safety Management System
1. comprehensive corporate approach
An effective SMS will provide a means of achieving enhanced safety performance which meets or exceeds basic compliance with the regulatory requirements associated with safety and quality. It is a well established fact that enhanced safety performance is founded upon a proactive safety culture inherent in all the organisation’s safety related activities. It is achieved by effective, devolved executive management in association with a means of independent safety oversight, both of which are the ultimate responsibility of the organisation’s Board and Chief Executive Officer. The Board and CEO are then able to demonstrate how safety is managed in the company.
A corporate approach to safety must be able to meet the following criteria:
• Published safety accountabilities of managers and key staff
• Requirements for a safety manager
• The ability to demonstrate that it generates a positive safety culture throughout the organisation
• Documented business policies, principles and practices in which safety is inherent
• Commitment to a safety oversight process which is independent of line management
• Regularly reviewed safety improvement plans
• Formal safety review process
An effective organisation for delivering safety
The second essential prerequisite is for an organisation that delivers safe standards by way of:
• Effective arrangements for selection, recruitment, development and training of staff
• Safety awareness training for management and staff
• Defined safety standards for, and auditing of, asset purchases and contracted services
• Controls for the early detection of - and action on – deterioration in the performance of safety-significant equipment or systems or services
• Controls for monitoring and recording the overall safety standards of the company
• The application of appropriate hazard identification, risk assessment and effective management of resources to control those risks
• Change management
• Arrangements enabling staff to communicate significant safety concerns to the appropriate level of management for resolution and feedback of actions taken
• Emergency response planning and simulated exercises to test its effectiveness
• Assessment of commercial policies with regard to impact on safety Systems to achieve safety oversight.
The following elements are desirable:
• A system for analysing flight data for the purpose of monitoring flight operations and for detecting unreported safety events
• A company wide system for the capture of written safety event issues/ reports
• A planned and comprehensive safety audit review system which has the flexibility to focus on specific safety concerns as they arise
• A published system for the conduct of internal safety inspections, the implementation of remedial actions and the communication of such information
• Systems for effective use of safety data for performance analysis and for monitoring organisational change as part of the risk management process
• Arrangements for ongoing safety promotion based on the measured internal safety performance and assimilation of experience of other operations
• Periodic review of the continued effectiveness of the safety management system an internal, independent body
• Line manager’s monitoring of work in progress in all safety critical activities to confirm compliance with all regulatory requirements, company standards and local procedures.
1. comprehensive corporate approach
An effective SMS will provide a means of achieving enhanced safety performance which meets or exceeds basic compliance with the regulatory requirements associated with safety and quality. It is a well established fact that enhanced safety performance is founded upon a proactive safety culture inherent in all the organisation’s safety related activities. It is achieved by effective, devolved executive management in association with a means of independent safety oversight, both of which are the ultimate responsibility of the organisation’s Board and Chief Executive Officer. The Board and CEO are then able to demonstrate how safety is managed in the company.
A corporate approach to safety must be able to meet the following criteria:
• Published safety accountabilities of managers and key staff
• Requirements for a safety manager
• The ability to demonstrate that it generates a positive safety culture throughout the organisation
• Documented business policies, principles and practices in which safety is inherent
• Commitment to a safety oversight process which is independent of line management
• Regularly reviewed safety improvement plans
• Formal safety review process
An effective organisation for delivering safety
The second essential prerequisite is for an organisation that delivers safe standards by way of:
• Effective arrangements for selection, recruitment, development and training of staff
• Safety awareness training for management and staff
• Defined safety standards for, and auditing of, asset purchases and contracted services
• Controls for the early detection of - and action on – deterioration in the performance of safety-significant equipment or systems or services
• Controls for monitoring and recording the overall safety standards of the company
• The application of appropriate hazard identification, risk assessment and effective management of resources to control those risks
• Change management
• Arrangements enabling staff to communicate significant safety concerns to the appropriate level of management for resolution and feedback of actions taken
• Emergency response planning and simulated exercises to test its effectiveness
• Assessment of commercial policies with regard to impact on safety Systems to achieve safety oversight.
The following elements are desirable:
• A system for analysing flight data for the purpose of monitoring flight operations and for detecting unreported safety events
• A company wide system for the capture of written safety event issues/ reports
• A planned and comprehensive safety audit review system which has the flexibility to focus on specific safety concerns as they arise
• A published system for the conduct of internal safety inspections, the implementation of remedial actions and the communication of such information
• Systems for effective use of safety data for performance analysis and for monitoring organisational change as part of the risk management process
• Arrangements for ongoing safety promotion based on the measured internal safety performance and assimilation of experience of other operations
• Periodic review of the continued effectiveness of the safety management system an internal, independent body
• Line manager’s monitoring of work in progress in all safety critical activities to confirm compliance with all regulatory requirements, company standards and local procedures.
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