Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook (2009) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 7-32
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Airports are key parts of the aviation industry, together with the airlines, air traffic organizations, and aviation service providers. Accident rates can decrease only if each of these parts takes 7 C H A P T E R 2 Airport Safety Management Systems
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It is a documented system that encompasses the following: • A safety policy incorporating responsibilities for everyone working at the airport and the airport's safety objectives • Effective decision tools for managers when dealing with safety issues • A program for identifying training needs, training, assessing competency, and keeping records of training performed • A framework for involving employees in the management of safety • The collection, analysis, and reporting of safety performance data • The identification of hazards in the airport • The assessment of the risk that the hazards identified pose to airport activities • The elimination or control of identified risks • An evaluation of the effectiveness of control measures • Arrangements for emergency preparedness and response • Arrangements to improve safety awareness and to promote safety • Documentation of meetings, decisions, actions, and other SMS-related activities or processes • Systems for monitoring the safety performance of the airport • Systems for the reporting and investigating accidents/incidents • Processes that elevate safety reporting and safety decision making to top management levels of the organization • Other aspects common to management systems, such as safety committees, document and records control, internal auditing, and management review meetings 8 Safety Management Systems for Airports In the future, it is likely that the FAA will require certain airports to have an SMS. However, whether required or not, it is still a good idea for every airport to have one.
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Policies & Objectives • Policy Statement • Safety Objectives • SMS Organization • Documentation • Coordination of Emergency Planning Safety Risk Management • SRM Process • Reporting System • Internal Safety Investigation • Improving SOPs • Impact of Changes Safety Assurance • Performance Monitoring • SMS Assessment • Internal Safety Assessment • Management Review Safety Promotion • Training and Education • Safety Communication • Continuous Improvement SMS & Safety Culture Environment SMS Figure 1. The pillars and elements of SMS.
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How Do We Address It? Organizational safety objectives should be based on the risk associated with operational activities and make sense, when compared with the safety policy.
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This way, every group within the airport organization is helping to meet organizational safety objectives. More discussion on safety objectives and examples are presented in Section 4.2 of this guidebook.
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Therefore, this should be the person at the top of the organization. This person should demonstrate a commitment to safety by allocating the resources necessary to achieve organizational safety objectives.
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The committee can be created to provide recommendations concerning safety issues. These may include making policy decisions, reviewing safety performance results, reviewing SMS implementation progress, providing expert advice to mitigate specific problems (e.g., improve ramp safety)
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Written materials support continuity and standardization of organizational processes. They also develop and maintain essential "corporate memory" and help an airport meet legal requirements to maintain current and effective safety information.
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Information should be processed so that it can be retrieved easily and used to perform trend analysis and as input to management reviews. A safety information control system should also allow for reliable and easy identification, maintenance, and disposal of safety-significant information, including information needed to conduct hazard identification, event investigation, and safety performance measurement processes.
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It is important that only appropriate personnel have access to safety databases, and that these people receive the necessary training for using and maintaining safety information management systems. There are several ways of keeping documents up to date.
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Airport Safety Management Systems 17 The AEP is a Part 139 requirement for certificated airports, and SMS processes may help your airport improve the plan. Using the SMS approach, airport staff will be able to identify hazards and risks that are not described in the AEP and prioritize improvements to the emergency plan to make it even more effective.
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It should also facilitate the development of an attitude that promotes the recognition and communication of potential safety issues at all levels. How Do We Address It?
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Additional information is found in Section 5.5. Airport Safety Management Systems 19 Most airport hazards can be evaluated using a simple methodology: the risk matrix; however, more complex methodologies may be needed, particularly when analyzing the impact of major changes (e.g., airport improvement projects)
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It is also part of the hazard identification and risk assessment processes and supports the subsequent follow-up action and feedback to the employees. Reporting systems are also excellent tools to promote safety and develop a positive safety culture within the organization.
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This mechanism ensures that significant changes are identified, reviewed, analyzed, and put through the risk management process, so that hazards that could be introduced by this change are identified and controlled. A "change" could be anything affecting the operation -- a new Airport Safety Management Systems 21 Let's say the auto-level system of a passenger bridge has been reported as inexplicably lowering by itself, even though it has never happened when an aircraft was parked.
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Section 6.7 contains additional information on how to conduct basic trend analysis. 22 Safety Management Systems for Airports procedure, activity, major airfield project that disrupts normal operations, new equipment, or piece of infrastructure, or a change in the organizational structure (a new department, restructuring, or a reassignment of duties, etc.)
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Section 6.6 contains detailed information on the process for SMS assessment and Annex A provides SMS assessment checklist tables with a scoring methodology to rate each element. Management Review What Is It?
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The SMS Manager should help these managers with their safety programs; however, the individual responsible for the section presents the safety results for his or her unit. Pillar 4 -- Safety Promotion SMS is most effective when it takes hold in an organization with a positive safety culture.
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The goal is to promote a positive safety culture through the free exchange of safety information to ensure that the organization functions as a single entity when it comes to safety and to eliminate the emergence of silos (isolated groups) on safety issues by sharing lessons learned.
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Everybody knows the Accountable Executive is behind the policy because her signature is prominently displayed at the bottom. Everyone at XYZ knows about the policy because it is discussed periodically at meetings and safety talks, both of which are part of a comprehensive safety communications plan, and also because it can be seen on display boards in key areas of the airport right next to the safety objectives of the organization.
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The management review is a key function that ensures that the XYZ SMS is working properly and that noticeable improvements in safety performance are seen at the airport. At least once a year, this important meeting takes place where senior management and the SMS Manager get together with the CEO to review and assess SMS performance.
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XYZ is confident that, while accidents are sometimes inevitable, the processes set up, adopted, and included in their SMS documentation are supporting their ultimate goal of continuous improvement on safety. Moreover, they are experiencing collateral benefits such as an increase in employee morale and financial performance.
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On a more formal basis, the system should be checked regularly to ensure that your practice matches your expectations or plans. These regular checks are done by monitoring safety performance results, internal audits, and regular management reviews.
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An SMS structure with the essential elements is integrated in the airport organization. The safety policy statement, organizational structure, and safety objectives provide the overall SMS framework.
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in implementing an SMS; however, these are more than offset by the good that comes from an SMS. There are many claims made about the benefits of SMS: • Reduced likelihood of accidents • Reduced costs relating to accidents and incidents • Assurance that a systematic process to monitor and address safety issues in a transparent and informed way is in place • The potential for reduced insurance and liability costs • Competitive advantage and possibility of more business opportunities • Improved regulatory compliance Airport Safety Management Systems 31 Have you ever had a sudden increase in accidents and not known why they happened or when they will end?
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32 Safety Management Systems for Airports These claims and more can make quite an impressive list for the benefits of an SMS. • Are they achievable?
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