Foreword
At the heart of all effective safety management systems (SMS) is the active reporting of both incidents and hazards. There are, in my experience, three key properties of an effective SMS:
- Simplicity of reporting procedure;
- Just culture (see ‘Principles of Just Culture’ under ‘Articles’);
- Safety promotion.
Simplicity of Reporting
If you employ software in managing your SMS, design your procedures around its functionality and not the other way around. Avoid trying to modify an off-the-shelf system or improvising; such approaches seldom have a happy ending. Include in your SMS manual a step-by-step guide to reporting, employing screen shots. It should (and I have achieved this) be possible to submit a safety report without face-to-face training. If the process is simple, it would be far more likely to be supported actively.
Safety Promotion
Employ imagination. Avoid the staid presentation of safety performance indicators that, although they might look smart, are unable to be affected by the actions of managers and – therefore – are limited in their benefit. Safety performance indicators are not the personal property of the safety post-holder; they are an aid to management that should be capable of being used by all. In your safety promotion material, exploit third-party material (universities, EASA, staff, national authorities etc) in the pursuit of raising interest in the topic of operational safety. Consider using a third-party, on a fixed budget, to generate a safety and compliance journal. Stimulate interest with the goal of personnel studying the field in their own right. Get that right and the SMS almost gains a life of its own. Make education a part of your daily routine.
The above are very simple principles, amongst many, that I have developed over my 34-year career to date. If you would like to discuss how I might exploit that experience to the benefit of your own organisation, please request a free consultation.
