SMS

for
Senior Managers
Jo Gillespie
Inter Aviation
Jo Gillespie
• 30 years and 14,000 hours as a pilot
• Military, general, business and
commercial
• 30+ years in aviation safety & risk
management
• 17 years Emirates Flight Safety
• Accident/incident investigations
• Flight safety programmes
• SMS implementation
• Expert witness
Who are you?
 Session Overview
• What is SMS?
• Prescriptive vs goal-based regulation
• Structure of the SMS
• Policy, objectives and SPIs
• Managing risk
• Safety governance
• Spreading the word
 Ground Rules

Timing
Breaks
Participation
Challenges
Objectives
 What is SMS anyway?
• Where did it come from?
• Why do we need to do it?
• Prescriptive vs ‘goal-based’ regulation
• Are there commercial benefits to SMS?
• Is it really a business process?
• What are the pitfalls?
• What is ‘safety culture’?
• What does success look like?
Where did SMS come from?
Why do we need to ‘do’ SMS?
What is Traditional Regulation?
The minimum acceptable standard:
As a goal this is too low
Some will always fall below the mark
Assumes one size fits all:
Routes, fleet, culture, size; all are different
Blanket risk management, not targeted
Slow to adapt:
Lengthy regulatory approval processes
Typical regulation:
 Aviation Regulations:
CASA Civil Aviation Order 82.5

5A.1 Subject to this subsection, an aircraft must not be operated

within the terminal airspace of a non-controlled aerodrome unless:
(a) there is a radio-communication confirmation system for the
aerodrome; and
(b) that radio-communication confirmation system is in operation
when the aircraft is within the terminal airspace.
 Aviation Regulations:
CASA Civil Aviation Order

5A.1A Paragraph 5A.1 does not apply if an aircraft is using

an aerodrome as an alternate aerodrome.
5A.1B Paragraph 5A.1 does not apply to an aircraft that: ...
5A.1C Paragraph 5A.1 does not apply in respect of ...
5A.2 If the radio-communication confirmation system at a
non-controlled aerodrome becomes unserviceable ...
 Alternative ‘Goal-Based’ Regulation:
International Regulations for the Prevention of
Collisions at Sea
Rule 19
Conduct of vessels in restricted visibility.
(a) This rule applies to vessels not in sight of one another when navigating in or near an area of restricted visibility.

(b) Every vessel shall proceed at a safe speed

adapted to the prevailing circumstances and
conditions of restricted visibility. A power-driven
vessel shall have her engines ready for immediate
manoeuvre.
(c) Every vessel shall have due regard to the prevailing circumstances and conditions of restricted visibility when complying
with the Rules of Section 1 of this Part.
(d) A vessel which detects by radar alone the presence of another vessel shall determine if a close-quarters situation is
developing and/or risk of collision exists. If so, she shall take avoiding action in ample time, provided that when such action
consists of an alteration of course, so far as possible the following shall be avoided:
(i) an alteration of course to port for a vessel forwards of the beam, other than for a vessel being overtaken.
(ii) an alteration of course towards a vessel abeam or abaft the beam.
 Goal Based Regulation
• Encourages the use of best practice
– Aim high not low
• Promotes positive interaction
– Regulator and operator must work together
• Targeted safety effort
– Resources not wasted
• Programme tailored to system risks
– Addressing issues specific to the system
• Adaptable to change
– No need for new regulations
• Recognises continuous improvement
– ‘Good enough’ is not good enough
 Are there commercial benefits?
• Relevant and adaptable safety management
– Strategies and defences appropriate to risk
– Readily adaptable to change
• Focused on identified risk
– Effort concentrated in the right place
• Accidents and incidents have a cost
– Image and reputation
– Commercial impact
– Financial losses
Is SMS really a Business Process?
 Are there any pitfalls?
• SMS as a multiplier:
– The good get better
– The bad get worse
• Accusations of collusion:
– Regulator leaving the industry to itself
– Inadequate supervision
• No-one to blame if it goes wrong:
– It is ‘our’ SMS
 What is ‘Safety Culture’

cul·ture
/ˈkʌl tʃər/ [kuhl-cher]
the behaviours and beliefs characteristic of
a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the
youth culture; the drug culture
 What does success look like?
• Continuous improvement
– Fundamental principle of SMS
• Measurably less ‘harm’
– Loss, damage, injury or death
• Greater business opportunities
– Manage risk to go where others dare not
– Meet more demanding clients’ requirements
• Better relationship with regulator
– Increasing autonomy
 What is SMS anyway?
• Where did it come from?
• Why do we need to do it?
• Prescriptive vs ‘goal-based’ regulation
• Are there commercial benefits to SMS?
• Is it really a business process?
• What are the pitfalls?
• What is ‘safety culture’?
• What does success look like?
 What is ‘safety’?
In groups of 3 or 4 agree a simple definition of
safety in the context of commercial air
operations – 10 minutes
 What is ‘safety’?

ICAO defines safety as:

“the state in which the risk of harm to persons or
of property damage is reduced to, and maintained
at or below, an acceptable level through a
continuing process of hazard identification and
risk management”
Structure
of the
SMS
 PLAN DO CHECK SELL

Safety
Safety Policy Safety
Safety Promotion
& Risk
Assurance &
Objectives Management
Training

Safety Management System

 ‘A systematic approach to managing safety,
including the necessary organizational
structures, accountabilities, policies and
procedures.’
Safety
Management
System

Safety
Safety Policy & Safety Risk
Safety Assurance Promotion &
Objectives Management
Training

22 January 2018 SMS Executive Training 26

 Safety Accountabilities
Who is accountable for safety?
 ‘A systematic approach to managing safety,
including the necessary organizational
structures, accountabilities, policies and
procedures.’
Safety
Management
System

Safety
Safety Policy & Safety Risk
Safety Assurance Promotion &
Objectives Management
Training

22 January 2018 SMS Executive Training 28

 Safety Policy
Who has one? Safety
Policy
Everyone
must stay
What does it say? safe at all
times

Does it reflect reality?

Is everyone aware of it?

 Safety Objectives
Why do we have objectives?

Make money and don’t crash…

 Safety Objectives

S.M.A.R.T.
• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-related
 PLAN DO CHECK SELL

Safety
Safety Policy Safety
Safety Promotion
& Risk
Assurance &
Objectives Management
Training

Safety Management System

 Safety Risk Management

ICAO defines safety as:

“the state in which the risk of harm to

persons or of property damage is reduced
to, and maintained at or below, an
acceptable level through a continuing
process of hazard identification and risk
management”
Three important definitions

HARM
HAZARD
RISK
Hazard Identification
Are hazards always ‘bad’?
Are hazards always ‘bad’?
 What’s the risk?
Usually expressed in terms of:
– Severity of outcome or
consequence
– Likelihood or probability
Ignoring severity for a moment
– Likelihood is also chance
– Chance is largely unpredictable
– Somewhat like gambling…
 Safety Risk Management
ICAO defines safety as:

“the state in which the risk of harm to

persons or of property damage is reduced
to, and maintained at or below, an
acceptable level through a continuing
process of hazard identification and risk
management”
Acceptable to..?
 Define ‘Acceptable Risk’
In groups take 10 minutes to define an
acceptable level of risk in the context of your
airline’s operations
 Would everyone agree?

• Regulators?
• Investors/shareholders?
• Fellow employees?
• Insurers?
• Passengers/families?

Probably not…
 Safety Risk Management
Bow-tie Model

O
H U
A T
Z EVENT
C
A EVENT O
R M
D E
Risk Emergency
S management response S
 Risk Management
vs
Emergency Response

‘The Ambulance Down in the Valley’

A cautionary tale of risk management

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y33eh8XJYDU 3:15
 PLAN DO CHECK SELL

Safety
Safety Policy Safety
Safety Promotion
& Risk
Assurance &
Objectives Management
Training

Safety Management System

 Safety Assurance
Are we doing what we said we would do?

Policy
Objectives
Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs)
Safety Action Group
Safety Review Board
SMS PROGRESS ASSESSMENT
 Safety Assurance:
Performance Monitoring
• Audit internal/external
• Safety trend monitoring
• Flight data management (FDM)
• Safety Action Groups (SAG)
• Safety Review Board (SRB)
 Safety Plan
Safety Policy

Safety Review
Board
Safety Objectives

Safety Action
SPIs Group

Safety Targets
sadist = cruel person
 Safety Assurance:
Change Management
• New routes • Key function for:
• New equipment – SAG
• Expansion – SRB
• Retrenchment
• Leadership
• Procedures
• New base
• …
 Safety Assurance:
Change Management
1. Define the objectives
2. Identify hazards to success
3. What defences are in place?
4. Assess the risk to success is it acceptable?
5. Devise mitigations if not
6. Assign actions and deadlines
7. Reassess the residual risk
8. Monitor
 PLAN DO CHECK SELL

Safety
Safety Policy Safety
Safety Promotion
& Risk
Assurance &
Objectives Management
Training

Safety Management System

 Safety Promotion:
Training & Education

Knowledge is the key

Training required at all levels
Once is not enough
Education and awareness – ongoing process
 Safety Promotion:
Safety Communication
 Fuel for the SMS

FUEL

Safety Management System

Safety
Safety Policy and Safety Risk Safety
Promotion and
Objectives Management Assurance
Training
 Fuel for the SMS

• Safety reports
• Hazard reports
• FDM
• Investigations
• Audits/DCC
• SPIs & targets
• Safety trends
• ….
 Fuel for the SMS:
Reporting
• Management don’t want to know
• Nothing changes
• I’ll get into trouble
• I can’t be bothered
 Non-compliance – why?
• Inadvertent
– Lack of knowledge, error, mistake
• Cultural
– ‘Normalisation of deviance’
• The procedure doesn’t work
• Saving time/money
– Optimising
• Recklessness
 Summary of SMS
1. Write your safety policy
2. Decide what is acceptable/unacceptable
3. Define your safety objectives
4. Apply genuine performance indicators
5. Monitor performance by SAG/SCRB
6. Build culture
7. Encourage reporting
8. Demand compliance
 SMS
for
Senior Managers
Jo Gillespie
Inter Aviation