SAE Update - February 2025 - 53

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Instructor Scott Harris, a retired safety
management system manager for Bell Textron,
helped develop the courses to enhance the global
safety of aerospace organizations and shed light on
SMS concepts.
According to Harris, SMS requirements are
commonly viewed as " onerous and daunting " by
members of the industry. His goal is to show
students how manageable implementing an SMS
truly can be.
" Anybody who builds or maintains aircraft already
uses some form of risk management process. Most
organizations are already doing 70% of what they're
required to do. What we want to do is help formalize
and document these existing processes and create
formalized and documented processes where there
are gaps, " Harris said.
The courses are designed with flexibility in mind, as
the path to safety is often different for each
organization.
" It's not as prescriptive as a lot of people think.
What may work for a large organization may not work
for smaller ones. Requirements just tell you what the
outcome needs to be, " Harris said.
These two courses can mitigate the risk of falling
behind on regional and global SMS requirements.
While the U.S. does not require safety management
system implementation for some design and
manufacturing organizations, nor maintenance
organizations, Europe does-with similar
regulations pending in Brazil, Canada, the UK, and
Australia.
" It's going to be a real showstopper for those that
don't have an accepted SMS. You can't build, you can't
certify, and if you maintain aircraft that will operate
outside of the US, you won't be able to fly those
UPDATE
Did you know?
SAE International members
receive a 10% discount on
professional development
registration fees!
aircraft into Europe, " Harris said.
What's more, the courses not
only appeal to safety and
quality professionals, but a wide
range of specialists across the
industry.
" Only 30% of students come
directly from quality or safety
sectors. I think folks recognize
the competitive advantage SMS
brings. Improving safety makes
you more efficient, and saves
organizations money, " Harris
said.
" What I could have gotten in
two days from this course, had it
existed when I was starting out,
took me 6 months to go out and
find out for myself, " Harris said.
Registration for SAE's Essential
Safety Management Systems
Training is now open.
An abbreviated version of
Harris's courses, The Role of Just
Culture in an Effective Safety
Management System, is also
available live online-in addition
to its eLearning version. n
By Evan Vissat, Copywriter Specialist.
February 2025
53

https://connect.sae.org/safety-management-systems https://connect.sae.org/safety-management-systems https://connect.sae.org/safety-management-systems https://www.sae.org/learn/content/c2405/ https://www.sae.org/learn/content/c2405/ https://www.sae.org/learn/content/c2405/ https://www.sae.org/learn/content/pd532435/

SAE Update - February 2025

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