Where Birds Don't Fly

When Canada, as the first ICAO State, implemented the Safety Management System (SMS) a prediction was that it would take several years to mature. After several years it has still not matured to its full potential. The SMS in itself cannot fail since its purpose is to paint a true picture of an enterprise. What can fail is accountability by the regulator and enterprise leaders.  The first step of SMS Tomorrow began yesterday. Today, the regulator has taken on a role as both a paying customer and a regulatory oversight body. In addition, the regulator is micromanaging smaller businesses to a degree that is detrimental to safety by failing operators for grammatical errors or demanding to be the decision maker in business solutions. Senior mangers in airport operations are accepting the regulator’s involvements without questioning the effect it has on their operations. What is being overlooked is that a functional SMS conforms to regulatory requirement and the regulator is conducting r...

Building a winning Safety Management System (SMS)team is beyond extreme hard work which starts with the Accountable Executive (AE). When the regulator performs SMS assessments of enterprises, the AE is the last person on their list to interview and the questions are simple overarching questions and policy questions. The AE should be interviewed first with the most difficult questions to answer. The SMS Manager is the person who is grilled by the regulator and expected to comprehend the Safety Management System. In addition, pilots and airline ground crews, and airport airside personnel are expected to recall tasks and SMS expectations beyond their operational requirements.  By applying this philosophy, the regulator has an approach to SMS assessment to ensure regulatory compliance at the top level but is deterrent to aviation safety.  This approach is neither good nor bad, since the regulator’s mandate is regulatory oversight which is different than operational oversight and c...