Testing Of Safety Management System (SMS)

By Didrik Strand offroadpilots@gmail.com
Introduction of new equipment or processes is done with the expectancy that changes are improvements to increased productivity with a higher rate of return on cash invested. When new airplanes are introduced it is assumed that this will attract more customers and improve service in a competitive world. Airlines with an operational philosophy of high quality customer service have greater chances to attract more repetitious flyers and paint a positive image of the company.

A positive image sets the stage for success.
SMS is a risk-based approach to safety where risks are identified, assessed and placed into existing, or new operational programs. SMS is the management of variables in a Timing Management System (TMS). Timing of variables is a fundamental factor of risk management. It is irrelevant to safety-specific if an airplane is parked on the hanger line due to mechanical failures, but becomes relevant for the purpose of flight. If a crew is waiting for that same airplane to be airworthy, the issue of mechanical failure becomes a variable highly important to safety.

A change-management system must be in place for tabletop exercises and testing how changes affects SMS operational systems. When introducing changes as new equipment or processes, scenarios are configured and played out to establish the risk-factor for risk-factor management. These change-management analysis becomes virtual events of the future, as they are not assessed based on future data collection, but based on past data collection of similar scenarios.

A selective picture of a risk assessment leaves the rest of the story up for assumptions. 
When operational changes or new processes are introduces without a change-management system in n place the testing of SMS is not fully completed. Operational changes involves human factors which are not regular variables, but special, and often unpredictable variations. These human factors cannot be applied to react in the same manner to changes as mechanical factors do. 

Eliminating human factors from the equation when testing SMS, skews a risk assessment in favor of assumptions.

BirdsEye59604

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Accepting or Rejecting Risks

By Didrik Strand offroadpilots@gmail.com
Image
Accepting or rejecting risks is a fundamental principle in a successful safety management system (SMS). A person managing the safety management system is expected to maintain a process for identifying hazards to aviation safety and for evaluating and managing the associated risks and ensuring that personnel are trained and competent to perform their duties as they apply to the safety management system. This includes training for both the accountable executive and SMS manager, in addition to other airport and airline operations personnel. A level of risk is an inherent element of aviation safety and there are several types of risks to consider when accepting or rejecting risks. One type of risk may take precedence over another type even if it is not directly associated with operations. Risk control strategies are beyond accepting or rejecting a risk, it is to justify control actions based on defined criteria. There are five categories of risks. The total risk is the sum of identified an
Read more

Lawless

By Didrik Strand offroadpilots@gmail.com
Image
A safety management system (SMS) is a regulatory requirement for airport and airline operators, the SMS regulations are performance-based, processes must conform to regulatory requirements, but still, a healthy SMS is lawless. In a lawless system events are unrestricted, actions are reactive to immediate threats, and data are collected by random chance. A safety management system contains multiple components to conduct research study of patterns. Research study design is a framework, or the set of methods and procedures used to collect and analyse data on variables specified in a particular research problem. A safety management system research study designs comes in many shape and forms, with advantages and limitations. A rule-based SMS is an overcontrolled system to justify an expected definite and unambiguous output. A system where predetermined results exists, is a system without trust, without learning, without accountability, and a system where information sharing impossible. A la
Read more

Human Factors

By Didrik Strand offroadpilots@gmail.com
Image
Human factors and human errors are two separate things but are often used interchangeable in conversations and in the aviation industry. Human errors are attached to a person who could be linked to an occurrence. In addition, the severity of the outcome is a predetermining factor how important it is to assign human error as the root cause after an accident.  Human error root cause analysis has widespread support from the aviation industry. However, with the implementation of the Safety Management System (SMS) regulations, accountability came into play, and it became impossible to justify human error as the root cause.  A healthy SMS looks at the organization and its systems, and the fact that a person overlooked, or missed an item is no longer a root cause, such as a pilot missing a checklist item. Checklists are required and are used for any flight, but there is no evidence a missed checklist item was the root cause of any accidents. At the other end of the spectrum, completing the ge
Read more