Your SMS
Consider your current workplace and ask four simple questions:
- What do you think is the number one reason for your next accident?
- Why do you think this?
- What are you doing about it?
- Is it working?
Before consultants made it complex, SMS was simply allocating resources against identified risk.
Complexity is your enemy. Making something simple is harder than making something complex. If the SMS is too complex, the risk is personnel will disengage. A simple SMS ensures protection from harm in a simple, robust and consistent way.
Heed the weak signal – it may be pointing to your next accident, eg – load shift on take off roll in Bergen.
A short group exercise (time permitting!):
- What part of the course are you going to take back to your SMS for improvement?
- What aspects of your SMS will you seek to look into?
- How do you now see the integration of HF into your SMS?
- What are the difficult tasks do you face with respect to your SMS?
- What part of your SMS do you think you currently do well?
What do we want for safety?
We want our people doing the right thing, when no one is looking.
One common comment heard on SMS course is, ‘I get it – but I just wish my managers would…‘ A potential solution to this is to have accountable managers complete the Aviation SMS for management course. This course provides accountable managers the essentials of SMS, and importantly, their vital roles and responsibilities within it. It is a selective version of this course however is usually delivered in-house, at company location. More details are available here.
A case study
Accident on approach to Perpignan:
- Aircraft leased to XL Airways from Air New Zealand – due to return
- Programme of checks required prior to return
- Maintenance (C Check), painting, as well as a flight check
- Maintenance carried out in accordance with approved procedures.
The test flight was the last step to ready the aircraft for return.
How did a perfectly servicable aircraft, with a fully competent crew from two well regarded airlines mange to crash without explanation?
- What were the Active failures?
- What were the Latent failures?
- Where were the SHELL model breakdowns?
- What were the Safety Culture issues and influences?
- Consider each element of SMS – where were the failures?
