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FAA Publishes ANPRM for Safety Management Systems
The FAA published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking comments on the use of a Safety Management System (SMS) for providers of aviation products/services that are certificated under Part 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations including Parts 21, 119, 121, 125, 135, 141, 142 and 145. The ANPRM was released by the FAA on July 23rd.
The FAA is seeking inputs on a series of questions to gather information from companies that would be affected by a requirement to implement an SMS. For example, the FAA wants to hear from companies that are already implementing SMS to find out what benefits have been realized and the economic impact of implementing an SMS. Comments should be sent to the FAA by the close of business October 21, 2009 using one of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Click on this link and follow the instructions for sending your comments electronically.
• Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M–30, U.S Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Washington DC 20590.
• Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at (202) 493–2251.
• Hand Delivery: Bring comments to Docket Operations in Room W12–140 of the West Building (Ground Floor) at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
The FAA intends to establish an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to assess comments resulting from this ANPRM and to provide recommendations for any SMS rulemaking effort.
The FAA ANPRM follows the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA), which was published on October 30, 2008 and provides EASA's proposed SMS.
Safety Culture—Foundation of SMS
A company's culture is defined by how its people think, act, and how they interact with each other—it is "the way we do things around here." So how do we know that we have a healthy safety culture—when is "the way we do things around here" supportive of the overall safety goal?
Think about how you do things. Do you always put safety first? This, too, is how you can measure a company's safety culture: a safety culture means everybody in the organization identifies and mitigates the risks—even when no one is watching. |
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New Safety Alert Module for SMS Pro™
SMS Pro™, the leading aviation Safety Management System (SMS) software, has a new module. The new Safety Alert module developed from users' feedback, enables SMS managers or SMS Administrators to create "pop up" safety alerts when users login.
The Safety Alert module can be configured to open based on the users' roles. For example, if an SMS manager wanted all pilots to view an aviation safety advisory, they would be greeted by a pop-up window with the advisory. A similar pop-up advisory could be configured for flight attendants, ramp service and maintenance workers. Safety Alerts can be configured so multiple roles can be alerted whenever they log on to SMS Pro™. For example, if the SMS manager wanted all baggage handlers and maintenance staff to review an important safety notice before starting their duties, the SMS manager would select the appropriately configured roles in SMS Pro™. The manager that created the aviation safety advisory could disable the active page until the employee read and closed the aviation safety advisory.
SMS managers can create customized messages, add images, format text and more with the Web-based text editor, which is embedded into SMS Pro™.
Safety Alerts can be configured to show once per user or each time the user logs on to the organization's aviation safety management system site. In addition, alert windows can be sized according to the creator's needs. For example, if an SMS manager wishes to show a large image, the window can be easily resized.
To see an example of SMS Pro's Safety Alert, contact Chris Howell for a demo of SMS Pro™. If your organization already uses the best and most user-friendly aviation SMS tool, ask us how you can integrate it into your custom Web portal. SMS Pro™ is the most complete and robust aviation SMS database tool on the market.
Justifying SMS
Organizations that implement SMS prior to a regulatory requirement have a competitive advantage, because they reap continuous improvement in their SMS program and greatly bolster their safety culture. Most organizations view safety/SMS as an expense and not an investment that will return dividends. If you only implement SMS because it is a regulatory requirement then you probably have a poor safety culture and will be unable to take full advantage of what SMS provides. So, if a positive Safety Culture and a robust SMS is not enough justification, consider the benefits that these 2 operators realized by implementing SMS.
Skyservice, a Canadian commercial charter airline, saved $5,000,000 (USD) in the first year that SMS was operational.
Air Transat, a Canadian commercial charter airline, saved over $1,000,000 (USD) per month with SMS. |
