SMS Triggers

Safety management system (SMS) triggers are conditions or events that triggers or activates responses within the safety management system framework of an airport or airline. SMS is a systematic approach to managing safety and implemented in industries where safety is critical, such as aviation, healthcare, construction, and manufacturing.

Triggers events or circumstances that prompt the organization to assess potential risks, review safety procedures, and take corrective actions to prevent accidents or incidents. Triggers very diverse and comes in different shapes and forms. 

Incident reports of accidents, near misses, or incidents serve as triggers, prompting an organization to investigate the root causes and implement corrective measures.

Safety data analysis of safety data, including trends and patterns, can reveal potential issues or areas of concern that may trigger a proactive safety response.

Audits and inspections findings trigger corrective actions to address identified deficiencies and enhance safety protocols.

Regulatory changes or changes to standards serve as triggers, requiring organizations to update their safety procedures to remain compliant. Airport standards changed not long ago, and triggered a new way for airports and airlines to do airside business. 

Equipment failures or malfunctions of critical equipment trigger a review of maintenance practices and operational processes.

Employee reports regarding safety concerns, observations, or occurrences triggers investigation for special cause variations and root cause analyses for continuous safety improvement.

Environmental changes in the external environment, such as weather conditions or natural disasters, trigger a review of the safety management system and its processes.

Training and competency gaps in employee training or competency trigger review and possible additional training programs.

The goal of identifying and responding to triggers within an SMS is to achieve continuous improvements in safety performance and mitigate risks, without changing processes that works. It involves a systematic and proactive approach to managing safety rather than a reactive one, allowing airports and airlines to mitigate hazards before they escalate into events.

Conventional wisdom is that SMS triggers must have a negative impact on operations. When airports and airlines take a negative approach to their SMS, their responses are reactive to events, which also include their proactive processes. An incident is required for a reactive process to be triggered, and an observation is required for a proactive process to be triggered. Any time an action is required to be initiated by an incident or observation the active process becomes a reactive process. 

An observation refers to the act of closely and deliberately watching or perceiving something to gain information. It involves using the senses, such as sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell, to gather data about a particular phenomenon, event, or object. Observations are fundamental components of conducting analyses and research to assess potential impact of known hazards.

Observations can be qualitative, involving descriptions and characteristics, or quantitative, involving measurements and numerical data. Observations provide the foundation for testing, theories, and gaining a better understanding of the impact a hazard may have on airport or airline operations.

When an SMS goal is to prevent hazards from becoming incidents, then hazard discovery is a proactive approach to safety. However, known hazards are just the top of the iceberg of hazards, with several other unknown hazards hidden in the observation process. While it is true that this approach to hazard management has great values to aviation SMS, it is also a false sense of safety that they have mitigated all operational hazards by active hazard identification. 

Hazards that often are not considered hazards, are taxiway and taxilane markings. Pilots are trained to follow and obey the marked taxilane without deviation, and they assume that that by following the lane all taxi hazards are avoided. This is not always the fact. When special cause variations are present, following a taxilane is a live hazard. There are several occurrences where an aircraft has crashed into an obstacle by following a taxilane. 

A proactive approach to safety is to take observe for special cause variations and take this into account. 

There is a difference between common cause variation and special cause variations. Common cause variations are integrated into the processes, and they are necessary for processes to function as intended. On the other hand, special cause variations are by nature not a hazard, but they are integrated in abnormal airline and airport operations. Special cause variations are integrated into operations, but they are not integrated into the processes for processes to function as intended. 

Identifying special cause variations become available to an SMS enterprise by data, information, knowledge, and comprehension. 

Data refers to information related to the potential hazards, risks, and safe usage of processes. This data is crucial for ensuring safety of individuals, as well as for regulatory compliance. Safety data typically includes details about the chemical composition, physical properties, toxicity, flammability, reactivity, and other relevant characteristics of a substance, but with the implementation of the safety management system in aviation, it became applicable to processes. 

One common form of safety data is Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) or Safety Data Sheets (SDS). These documents provide comprehensive information about a chemical product and are often required by regulations and standards. They are intended to be used by workers, emergency responders, and others who may be exposed to or handle the substance.

In various industries, safety data is a key component of risk assessment and management. It helps organizations identify and mitigate potential hazards associated with their products or processes, thereby promoting a safer working environment, and protecting the well-being of equipment, individuals, and the environment.

Safety Data Sheets are made available by an SMS enterprise in the forms of Airside Operations Plans, and Aircraft Operations Plans. These plans are designed and developed specific as applicable to each airport and airline. These types of plans describe special cause variations. Example of an airside operations plan is an airport Plan of Construction Operations, which is non-standard operations at airports. This plan contains deviations from standard airside General Operations, Aerodrome Data, Physical Characteristics, Obstacle Management, Visual Aids, Marking and Lighting of Objects, Aerodrome Lighting System Design and Operations, and Aerodrome Maintenance. 

Information generally refers to data that is organized and processed to have meaning or value. It is a concept that encompasses knowledge, facts, and data that are communicated and understood. Information is typically used to convey meaning, make decisions, and solve problems.

In a more technical sense, information can be seen as a reduction in uncertainty. When data is processed and organized in a way that reduces ambiguity or uncertainty, it becomes information. This transformation involves giving data context, relevance, and purpose, which allows it to be interpreted and used by individuals or systems.

There are various forms of information, including textual, numerical, visual, and auditory, among others. The field of information theory provides a mathematical framework for studying the quantification, storage, and communication of information.

In everyday language, the term information is often used to refer to facts or knowledge about a particular subject. In the context of technology and communication, information can be transmitted through various channels, such as books, websites, speeches, and digital media.

Knowledge refers to information, understanding, or skills that a person acquires through experience, education, or learning. It involves awareness and familiarity with facts, concepts, skills, and truths about the world. Knowledge can be acquired through various means, including personal experiences, formal education, observation, communication, and interaction with the environment.

There are different types of knowledge.

Explicit knowledge is knowledge that can be easily articulated and documented. It is often found in books, articles, databases, and other formalized sources. 

Tacit knowledge is more implicit and difficult to express in words. It is often rooted in personal experience, skills, and intuition. Tacit knowledge is commonly gained through practical, hands-on activities. In addition to learning new skills, recurrent training of airport personnel and flight crew is about improving current knowledge and skills.

Procedural knowledge is about how to do something. It involves knowing the steps and processes required to perform a specific task or achieve a particular goal.

Declarative knowledge is knowledge about facts and information. It involves understanding what something is, how it works, or the relationships between different pieces of information.

Knowledge is dynamic and can be built upon, revised, and expanded over time. It serves as the foundation for problem-solving, decision-making, and overall cognitive processes. Additionally, the application of knowledge often leads to the development of skills and expertise in specific areas.

Comprehension refers to the ability to understand or grasp the meaning of something. It involves the mental process of interpreting and making sense of information, whether it be written or spoken language, visual stimuli, or any other form of communication. Comprehension is not just about recognizing words or symbols, it also involves understanding the context, connecting ideas, connecting systems, and extracting meaning from the information presented.

Comprehension skills are crucial in various aspects of life, including education, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making. Strong comprehension skills allow individuals to process information effectively, make informed judgments, and engage with the world around them in a meaningful way.

Aviation SMS requires triggers to activate processes. An easy and effortless tool to research SMS triggers is to access published research and accredited opinions online. 

Distinguishing between facts and opinions is crucial for critical thinking and informed decision-making, and selection of SMS triggers.

Facts can be objectively verified. They are based on evidence and can be proven true or false through observation or reliable sources.

Facts are historical data and are not influenced by personal beliefs or emotions.

Facts are specific and concrete. They provide details that can be corroborated and are not open to interpretation.

Opinions are subjective and reflect personal beliefs, feelings, or preferences. They cannot be objectively proven or disproven.

Opinions often involve expressions of value, taste, or personal judgment. 

Opinions can vary from person to person and are open to interpretation. Different individuals may hold different opinions on the same issue. 

Both facts and opinions are invaluable tools for an SMS enterprise to establish and apply SMS triggers. 

A safety management system is based on a safety policy, which is a vision of the forward path they are taking. When moving forward on the path into the future the unknown lays ahead and opinions are required to design and develop processes. An example is a cockpit checklist, and the flight crew is required to check and complete 25 items. An opinion may be that a checklist should follow the flow of the cockpit layout, while a fact is that all items are still included without a cockpit flow. Another example are the scheduled airport inspections. An airside maintainer is required to check 180 runway edge lights, and the opinion is that the lights should be checked in sequency from one runway end to the other end before moving over to the other side of edge lights and the other runway. A fact is that all 180 lights are still included in the check if all lights are randomly selected and checked. 

Remember, in some cases, there can be a gray area where information might have elements of both fact and opinion. Developing critical thinking skills and being mindful of the context can help navigating these situations more effectively.

The foundation for SMS triggers is abnormal airport operations or abnormal flight operations. Special airport operations, such as plan of construction operations triggers special fight operations for airlines. SMS triggers identified by the airport operator are then added to flight operations as SMS triggers. These triggers are temporary in nature as long as the construction is ongoing, and when there are changes with progress updates from the airport operator. 

When applying SMS triggers an SMS enterprise are using a positive approach to SMS, as opposed to a negative approach were hazards and incidents must occur for an SMS reaction. 

Applying SMS trigger is a new approach to safety and different what the aviation industry expects today.

SMS triggers does not change the current approach to SMS, and the fact that there will always be hazards and risks, so proactive management is needed to identify and control these threats to safety before they lead to mishaps. What has changed is to apply known special cause variations, also known as abnormal operations as their proactive approach to safety.

The common safety process is accomplished in five steps. A safety issue or concern is raised, a hazard is identified, or an incident or accident happens. The concern or event is reported or brought to the attention of management. The event, hazard, or issue is analyzed to determine its cause or source. Corrective action, control or mitigation is developed and implemented, and the corrective action is evaluated to make sure it is effective. 

If the safety issue is resolved, the action can be documented, and the safety enhancement maintained. If the problem or issue is not resolved, it should be re-analyzed until it is resolved.

SMS triggers are identified airport or airline events creating abnormal operations. Airports classify their runways and taxiway by Aircraft Group Number (AGN), which is based on aircraft wingspan. AGN are published in the aeronautical publication to provide a simple method for interrelating the numerous technical specifications concerning the aerodrome and the characteristics of the critical aircraft for which the aerodrome is provided.

When there are changes to airport operations, such as construction, the AGN may change. This is a special cause variation and is not a hazard since runways and taxiways maintain support for their critical aircraft. The special cause variation may require the airline to operate a different type of aircraft during time of construction to accommodate for the temporary change in the AGN. 

A hazard is any source or situation that has the potential to cause harm, damage, or adverse effects to people, property, the environment, or any other aspect of life. Hazards can take various forms, including physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors. They are often associated with specific activities, processes, substances, or conditions that pose a risk to health, safety, or well-being.

Understanding and managing hazards is crucial in various fields, such as workplace safety, environmental protection, and public health. The goal is to identify, assess, and control hazards to prevent accidents, injuries, or negative impacts. Hazard analysis is a common practice in risk assessment, helping to determine the likelihood and severity of potential harm and implementing measures to mitigate or eliminate those risks.

Everything is not a hazard, and a change in aircraft type, or runway does not render aircraft or runway unsuitable for continued operations. 

An SMS trigger is a new obstacle under an approach but is below the approach surface and does not change anything on the approach. This could be a temporary crane hanging powerlines, or road construction adjacent to the airport. This information is published in the aeronautical information for airlines to add to their SMS triggers. It is not a hazard, since the obstacle is below the approach, but it is abnormal operations because the first thing a pilot see when breaking out at 200FT is a crane below the aircraft. 

Another SMS trigger are changes to declared distances for any reason. It could be construction. Declared distances would change for any reason to maintain airport operations during scheduled or unscheduled events. They could change because of an incident on a different runway, it could be because of airside maintenance, it could be because of snow removal or for any other reasons. 

An operational sound SMS requires SMS triggers to be established when abnormal operations take place. During hours of abnormal operations, data is collected, analysed, and documented. Data points are entered for analysis by a statistical process control (SPC) method identifying if abnormal operations processes are in control or out of control processes.

The same SMS trigger principle is also used for normal operations and data collection for operations without special cause variations. It is more important for an SMS enterprise, both airports and airlines, to learn why things go right than it is to know why things go wrong. 

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