In the coffee break of the recent Gulf Flight Safety Committee meeting in Dubai I overheard one of the participants telling his colleague that airlines were growing weary of the term SMS and all that it entails. That isn't without precedent - Human Factors and CRM both enjoyed immense popularity in civil aviation for a time before becoming discredited by overuse or misapplication and perhaps the same could be true of SMS. The sheer number of practitioners around the world offering to design, implement and audit your SMS could be a concern in itself because in the absence of a common standard (and the ICAO standard is sorely dated) they presumably all have a different view of what it should be.
On the other hand our senior partner returned recently from an aviation insurance conference to say that all of the talk there was about SMS and how it was going to revolutionise airline safety and hence reduce the risk to their finances. They were no doubt feeling rather chipper in the wake of 2011's 45-50% reduction in losses over the previous year!
I guess there is truth in both beliefs, while at the same time neither is entirely correct. ICAO really do need to get on with the publication of Annexe 19, and not just its initial proposed form bringing together all references to SMS from other Annexes. It needs to refresh and revitalise the principles of SMS and provide genuine global standards for those who use them. SMS used wisely DOES have the power to enhance aviation safety and to save cost for all involved in the industry, but it is not a panacea on its own. A manual in the safety department won't change behaviours on the line and at the end of the day that is the goal...
On the other hand our senior partner returned recently from an aviation insurance conference to say that all of the talk there was about SMS and how it was going to revolutionise airline safety and hence reduce the risk to their finances. They were no doubt feeling rather chipper in the wake of 2011's 45-50% reduction in losses over the previous year!
I guess there is truth in both beliefs, while at the same time neither is entirely correct. ICAO really do need to get on with the publication of Annexe 19, and not just its initial proposed form bringing together all references to SMS from other Annexes. It needs to refresh and revitalise the principles of SMS and provide genuine global standards for those who use them. SMS used wisely DOES have the power to enhance aviation safety and to save cost for all involved in the industry, but it is not a panacea on its own. A manual in the safety department won't change behaviours on the line and at the end of the day that is the goal...
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