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In aviation, particularly in private air travel, many operators tout their Safety Management System, or SMS. You have maybe seen articles or marketing pieces discussing SMS, but what exactly does it mean to you, the client?
Rather than giving you the textbook definition (which I’m sure you’d find riveting), I am going to provide the information that is important to you as a client – how does it keep you safe?
All companies have policies. Most companies have safety policies. In an SMS, a Safety Policy outlines not only how to achieve the highest margins of safety, but who is responsible and when. This means that every Omni Air Transport employee knows what their piece of the puzzle is, and which responsibilities go along with that.
This is how everything you see on a flight that keeps you safe came about – managing risk. It is also the many things that you don’t see as well. Analyzing data, reviewing policies – it’s a constant state of improvement to ensure your safety.
So, we’ve controlled risk. Great! But how do we make sure that it is still working? That is Safety Assurance. It is continuous monitoring and auditing of all the procedures put in place to ensure your safety. Does something need to be changed? We change it.
This is the hours of training our employees get on safety each year, and the many safety-related discussions and meetings that occur with everyone – from the Chairman to the Pilot, from the CEO to the Financial Analyst. It is how we make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction when it comes to safety.
Written by Larry Soles, Omni Air Transport Safety Manager. With nearly a decade of experience in military and commercial aviation, Larry Soles has made safer flight operations his life’s work. In his aviation career, Larry has implemented or overhauled Safety Management Systems, CASS programs, Quality Assurance audit programs, and safety investigation protocols.
