Where Birds Don't Fly

There are seven traits to a successful safety management system (SMS) policy.  The SMS policy is written on behalf of the customers; The policy is written in plain language; The policy express accountability; An SMS policy conveys an attainable vision; The policy details task performance expectations; The policy is unambiguous; and A successful SMS policy is short. When writing an SMS policy, it is critical to know that an SMS policy is not about safety. Safety is a buzzword, and a safety-card, used when there are no justifications for applied actions. It is important to understand that the safety-card is applied to emotions and opinions rather than data and facts. When the safety-card is played all oppositions are silenced, since nobody wants to argue against safety. The safety-card is a manipulative statement often used in aviation. When someone wants a specific result, they use the safety-card to get what they want, and they draw root-cause solutions from an emotional data base ...

When the Safety Management System (SMS) regulations came into force, there were little or no guidance material available to design useful long-term corrective actions to findings. Long-term corrective actions were defined by how long time it would take to implement. While short-term corrective actions also were defined by time between design and implementation, short-term corrective action did not change with the SMS, since the fix or repair required to return to normal operations was already in place. If an aircraft engine failed, the short-term corrective action was to change out the engine with an engine that had not failed yet.  A long-term corrective action is a system level change and there are seven levels to a long-term corrective action. The first level is discovery, either by hazard identification, audit finding, or an unplanned event occurrence. The second level is the immediate corrective action, which is an immediate reaction to a hazard, finding or event to establish ...