Applied Aviation Safety The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the mission of “providing the safest and most efficient aerospace system in the world” (FAA, n.d.). In order to accomplish this mission, they analyze information from many sources and determine where safety needs improvement in the aviation industry and then look for solutions to the issues. In 2006, the FAA wrote AC 120-92, Introduction to Safety Management Systems (SMS) for Air Operators, to establish a voluntary system were air carriers could deliberately incorporate safety programs into their daily operations. The SMS program is based on four pillars of safety; 1) Safety policy and objectives, 2) Safety risk management, 3) Safety assurance, and 4) Safety promotion (FAA, n.d.). The first pillar, safety policy and objectives, establishes senior management’s commitment to continually improve safety.
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It defines the methods, processes and internal organizational structure that is needed to meet the company’s safety goals (Rodriguez, 2012). The top management a company is already familiar with strategic planning, analyzing data, and setting goals for the organization to reach. This makes them the logical choice for developing the organization’s safety program. However, this choice also has some drawbacks if the CEO and Board of Directors are not aviators, as they may not have a firsthand knowledge of the specific issues that are dealt with on a daily basis in their company. Good managers will overcome this weakness by gathering knowledgeable employees, from various levels and fields in the business, around them and forming a committee to brainstorm issues and solutions. Then they will take the committees information and use, along with FAA guidance, it to develop safety programs, procedures, and policies in their company (Wheelen, 2015). The second pillar, safety risk management, is designed to determine the need for new or revised risk controls based on the assessment of acceptable risks (Rodriquez, 2012). Risk management, is defined by the Risk Management Handbook as, “a formalized way of dealing with hazards, is the logical process of weighing the potential costs of risks against the possible benefits of allowing those risks to stand uncontrolled” (2009). There are several steps in a risk management analysis which allow managers to identify risks and hazards, analyze the pros and cons of each risk, developing plans to eliminate or reduce those risks from occurring, implementing and then supervising the plan, and providing feedback for future endeavors. This is a more proactive system than analyzing accident reports after the accident has occurred. The third pillar, safety assurance, evaluates the continued effectiveness of the risk control strategies and supports the identification of new hazards (Rodriguez, 2012). …show more content…
A program is only as good as the people that are using it, and contributing to it. A good SMS program should be reviewed periodically and allow for new hazards and controls to be added to it; it is like a child, growing and developing over many years of careful nurturing. Programs that are interactive encourage both employees and managers to contribute to the overall safety of the organization. When people feel that their voice matters, and they are making a difference, they are more apt to use the SMS program. The fourth pillar, safety promotion, includes training, communication, and other actions to create a positive safety culture within all levels of the workforce of a company (Rodriguez, 2012). The most difficult part of an SMS program
It defines the methods, processes and internal organizational structure that is needed to meet the company’s safety goals (Rodriguez, 2012). The top management a company is already familiar with strategic planning, analyzing data, and setting goals for the organization to reach. This makes them the logical choice for developing the organization’s safety program. However, this choice also has some drawbacks if the CEO and Board of Directors are not aviators, as they may not have a firsthand knowledge of the specific issues that are dealt with on a daily basis in their company. Good managers will overcome this weakness by gathering knowledgeable employees, from various levels and fields in the business, around them and forming a committee to brainstorm issues and solutions. Then they will take the committees information and use, along with FAA guidance, it to develop safety programs, procedures, and policies in their company (Wheelen, 2015). The second pillar, safety risk management, is designed to determine the need for new or revised risk controls based on the assessment of acceptable risks (Rodriquez, 2012). Risk management, is defined by the Risk Management Handbook as, “a formalized way of dealing with hazards, is the logical process of weighing the potential costs of risks against the possible benefits of allowing those risks to stand uncontrolled” (2009). There are several steps in a risk management analysis which allow managers to identify risks and hazards, analyze the pros and cons of each risk, developing plans to eliminate or reduce those risks from occurring, implementing and then supervising the plan, and providing feedback for future endeavors. This is a more proactive system than analyzing accident reports after the accident has occurred. The third pillar, safety assurance, evaluates the continued effectiveness of the risk control strategies and supports the identification of new hazards (Rodriguez, 2012). …show more content…
A program is only as good as the people that are using it, and contributing to it. A good SMS program should be reviewed periodically and allow for new hazards and controls to be added to it; it is like a child, growing and developing over many years of careful nurturing. Programs that are interactive encourage both employees and managers to contribute to the overall safety of the organization. When people feel that their voice matters, and they are making a difference, they are more apt to use the SMS program. The fourth pillar, safety promotion, includes training, communication, and other actions to create a positive safety culture within all levels of the workforce of a company (Rodriguez, 2012). The most difficult part of an SMS program