Safety Management Systems

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Safety Management Systems

• FAA Flight Standards and Industry Roles in the
  AVSSMS

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What is safety?

• Freedom from harm (Dictionary defn.)
• Safety is not equivalent to risk free (U.S.
  Supreme Court, 1980)
• Risk management is a more practical term than
  safety. (Jerome Lederer 1928)
• Carelessness and overconfidence are more
  dangerous than deliberately accepted risk (Wilbur
  Wright, 1901)
• Practical safety is risk management

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SMS Purpose and Methods

• The purpose of a safety management system is to
  provide a systematic way to control risk and to
  provide assurance that those risk controls are
  effective
• The SMS will give certificate holders a formal
  means of meeting statutory safety requirements
  (title 49) and the FAA a means of evaluating
  management capability

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System Safety

• "The application of special technical and
  managerial skills in a systematic, forward
  looking manner to identify and control hazards
  throughout the life cycle of a project, program,
  or activity" (Roland Moriarty, 1990)
• Traditional approach concentrates on technical
• SMS adds emphasis on management elements

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Is safety management the same thing as quality
management?

• Absolutely maybe

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SMS or QMS?

• Quality Management System (QMS) requirements are
  based on customer requirements for products
  services
• Requirements for protective systems such as
  Safety Management Systems (SMS) are based on
  objective determination of risk
• Both types of systems assure consistency of
  meeting requirements

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SMS Components (Four Pillars)
Safety Promotion (Culture)
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Design
Performance
SRM
SA
System Analysis (Design)
System Operation
Problem Resolution
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Air Transportation Oversight System

• ATOS uses a risk assessment process to determine
  safety assurance objectives
• Design Assessments (SAIs) are used to determine
  the ability of organizational design to meet
  regulatory requirements and operator risk
  management objectives
• Performance Assessments (EPIs) are used to
  determine conformance to design requirements

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Is ATOS the same as SMS?

• ATOS An Oversight System used to fulfill FAA
  safety responsibilities
• SMS A Management System used to fulfill operator
  safety responsibilities

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Oversight and SMS
FAA (ATOS) Oversight Program Management (8
Modules)
Production
Protection

• Air Carrier
• Technical Program Requirements
• Systems
• Subsystems
• Elements

Surveillance
Cert
C.O.S.
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QMS
FAA SRM(S)
Regs./Policy
2
FAA SA
CH SRM
FAA SA
FAA SP
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ICAO Critical Elements of Oversight

• CE-1 Primary aviation legislation
• CE-2 Specific operating regulations
• CE-3 Safety oversight functions
• CE-4 Technical personnel qual./training
• CE-5 Technical guidance and information
• CE-6 Licensing, certification, approval
• CE-7 Surveillance
• CE-8 Resolution of safety concerns

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CE-1 2
FAA SRM(S)
CE-4 5
2
CE-8
CE-3
FAA SA
CE-7
CH SRM
FAA SA
FAA SP
CE-6
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SMS Standard (AC 120-92)
Policy Cl. 4
Safety Risk Management (SRM) Cl. 5
Safety Promotion (SP) Cl. 7
Safety Assurance (SA) Cl. 6
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SMS Guidebooks
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Format of the Guidebook

• (OBJ) are objectives. This information describes
  or outlines what you will be expected to develop
  in this specific area of your Safety Management
  System Manual, in order to meet an SMS standard.
• (STND) are standards. This is the specific
  language of the standard that the organization
  will be held to in order to meet the statement of
  requirements conveyed in the policy/procedure
  section.
• (DG) is developmental guidance that provides
  instruction regarding how you can develop your
  policy, procedures, and controls to address each
  specific requirement of the Safety Management
  System. For each section of your manual, you will
  need to consider the developmental guidance
  included in this Guidebook. The (DG) guidance is
  intended to guide you philosophically in the
  development of your manual.

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Example Section of the Guidebook

• 4.4 Safety Planning
• (OBJ) The expectation of this section is that
  you describe your safety management plan to meet
  the objectives described by your above stated
  safety policy.

(DG) Management has historically been defined as
planning, organizing, directing, and controlling.
Therefore a Safety Management System will start
with a plan to meet the Safety Objectives. A
plan should be set by Top Management that will
direct and sequence the implementation of the
Safety Management System. Planning at one level
becomes direction at the next level. The first
thing to plan is how much and on what time table
the various portions of the Safety Management
System will be created, who will be responsible
for the overall system and the various portions
of it.
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Example Audit/Gap Analysis Tool
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Standard and Audit/Gap Analysis Tools
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Rulemaking Effort

• Rulemaking Project Record (RPR) opened Nov. 2006
• Proposed strategy
• Align regulations with ICAO SARP
• Regulatory concept similar to current CASS
• Draft acceptance criteria (similar to present
  voluntary standard)
• Phased implementation

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SMS Voluntary Implementation Pilot Project

• Pilot Project activities commenced in 2007
• Voluntary SMS development and interface with
  oversight systems
• AFS combined effort
• Objectives
• Development of guidance material,
• Implementation strategies, and
• Oversight systems
• Provide experience for FAA and operators

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SMS Implementation Process
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Immediate Challenges

• Design rulemaking process around SRM (and
  acceptance of risk vs. outcome as bases for
  rules)
• Design of organizational certification activities
  around system design and performance model
• Emphasis on integrated SRM and compliance on the
  part of certificate holders

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Challenges (cont)

• Design of surveillance and certificate management
  activities as safety assurance of organizations
  processes
• Implementation of a strategic SA function in the
  analytical organization
• Initiate development of a more comprehensive
  system model for integrated level one SRM and SA

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Carelessness and overconfidence are more
dangerous than deliberately accepted riskWilbur
Wright, 1901

• Contact
• Don Arendt, Ph.D.
• [phone]
• don.arendt_at_faa.gov