Premium on Safety - Issue 48, 2023 - 4

SAFETY SPOTLIGHT
PILOTS ARE SAFETY MANAGERS BY NATURE.
We manage risk. It's what we do. When we
first look outside our window or check weather
before heading out to the airport, our risk
analysis and management have begun for the
day. We weigh all of what we know about wind
direction, speed, ceilings, turbulence, convective
activity, freezing conditions, and what we
know about the airports we are planning on
going to (runway orientation, length, width,
approaches available, closures, obstacles, etc.)
and immediately make decisions about flying
that day. Is it safe to fly today? Would it be
better to delay departure? Is there a more
favorable destination for weather conditions?
Understanding and
implementing a Safety
Management System (SMS)
isn't drastically different from
what we already do. It's simply
expanding the management
of risk beyond one pilot
and encompassing a whole
organization.
These are just the first of many, many questions
we ask ourselves on any given flight day. We're
measuring and weighing risk.
Understanding and implementing a Safety
Management System (SMS) isn't
drastically different from what we already do.
It's simply expanding the management of risk
beyond one pilot and encompassing a whole
organization. What does that mean exactly?
It means that everyone in the organization
has a responsibility for aviation safety. No
one person is above or below the obligation to
identify hazards that could potentially cause
an accident. Likewise, everyone has a role to
play in identifying ways to improve processes
and reduce risk. Great news for pilots-we
aren't in this alone.
An SMS is developed to provide for a
systematic approach to achieving acceptable
levels of safety risk and is broken down
into the four " pillars " of Safety Policy, Risk
Management, Safety Assurance, and Safety
Promotion. Its purpose is to ensure that
everyone in the organization plays a role in
promoting safety and that risk is managed and
mitigated in a systematic, measurable way.
Safety risk management is the pillar that
pilots likely feel most comfortable with. It
is like identifying hazards, analyzing risks,
and controlling those risks that we take
regularly. Still, the pillar that fully forms the
foundation for an SMS is the organizational
Video reproduced with permission from Civil Aviation
Safety Authority Australia
Safety Policy. The Safety Policy is a document
that states the commitment to safety and
describes the principles that the SMS is built
upon. It establishes management commitment
and objectives and sets up a framework of
organizational structures, accountabilities, plans,
procedures, and controls to meet the objectives.
Why is the Safety Policy pillar so important?
It really does form the backbone of the entire
SMS. It is the document that defines the value
of safety and sets the framework of safety in the
organization. It acts as the guide for how safety
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https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/sms/explained/components#safety_policy https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/sms/explained/components#safety_policy
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