What Exactly is a Safety Management System?

1. What Exactly is a Safety Management System? A Safety Management System (SMS) is a systematic approach to managing safety, including the necessary organizational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures. As per ICAO requirements, service providers are responsible for establishing an SMS, which is accepted and overseen by their State. A safety management system is primarily proactive/predictive. It considers hazards and risks that impact the whole organization, as well as risk controls. A flight safety program is primarily reactive and typically focuses on only one part of the system – the airline operation. What are the key processes of an Safety Management System? Performance Measurement: A safety management provides the necessary tools for analyzing whether all the organization’s safety goals are achieved and done efficiently; Safety & Quality Assurance: As the processes are based on quality management principles they assist in continuous improvement of the organization’s safety performance presently and in the long run. Risk Management: This highly effective approach is really helpful in assessing any risks and for applying risk controls; Occurrence Reporting & Hazard Identification: The occurrence reporting helps in acquisition of safety data without any hassle; now a method for identifying any hazards related to your organization is called hazard identification. Now lets have a look at what a safety management system provides to an organization:  An efficient personal commitment from all employees to achieve safety performance goals and top-down commitment from the management;  A streamlined organizational culture that strives to improve consistently;  Straight forward guidelines of what the safety management system is and what it can accomplish in the here and now;  A reliable practice of open communication throughout the organization that’s comprehensive and transparent where required. The safety management system really enhances the safety and you cannot have proper control and get the results you want without incorporating this solution in your management principles. The best part is that the this solution can be integrated with other management systems by tailoring a flexible regulatory framework to your organization! Source:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-exactly-safety-management-system-david-parkinson