Safety Manager personal traits (from AC 119-01 v1.1)

Ideally, the SM should possess qualities such as:

• fairness;
• assertiveness;
• impartiality;
• trustfulness;
• integrity;
• excellent communication skills; and
• objective thinking.

The SM should be a person who is approachable, convincing, who remains composed in adverse situations and above all is tenacious. Successful safety culture change related to SMS implementation takes time and ongoing commitment by the program manager.

If the SM lacks credibility, so will the SMS and the behaviour and attitude of staff will tend to be negative.