Monthly Archives: January 2015

The Importance of Safety Management Systems at Airports

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Organization and consistency is a large part of having a well-oiled and functional Safety Management System in an airport. Without a consolidated way to gather and organize information, you are left with stacks of paper across many places – making it difficult to solve and prevent safety issues.

This is an issue easily solved by using technology as a solution to the cluttered, disorganized and potentially wasteful systems that rely on paper.

Dallas FW Airport’s Thoughts & Discoveries during their Pilot Study:
In the FAA’s report on the Airport SMS Pilot Study, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (DFW) stated that SMS software integration early in the process is the key to success. They developed their own software in-house, and allowed the fields to be filled by staff and management.

DFW also had purchased laptops for field reporting, allowing reporters to include location information using the airport’s GIS technology.

Before the software approach to SMS, DFW reported incidents on paper and in loose forms as “free text” in a database – leading to documentation being stored in a varied of places. The old method was a “cumbersome, labor-intensive, and inconsistent reporting system” according to Julie Schreacke in the FAA’s Pilot Study November 2011 Roundtable Meeting Study.

Advantages of using software for SMS:
Using software as an SMS solution not only allows an airport to cleanly, efficiently and consistently having things reported and organized, but it turns SMS into a green and paperless process.

Having everything streamlined and reported in real time makes sure that issues can be taken care of as soon as possible, lessening the dangers and risks associated with untended problems.

ProDIGIQ’s Airport Safety Management System:
ProDIGIQ’s software solution to the problem, ProSMS, brings together SMS and other safety necessities, systems and modules in airport operations under a single, customizable sign-in portal. This allows easy gathering of information and global visibility across everybody involved in SMS at the airports with the product in action.

ProSMS has various modules, with access split and approved in whatever fashion is best for the airport. Events related to hazards, incidents, accidents and citations can be submitted for monitoring and recording.

There is an Investigation Module designed to allow personnel to record findings and discuss them by adding notes, images and more.

This collection of modules can be assigned to the various employees and staff that would need to access it, allowing everybody to be able to do their part without being confused by extra information that isn’t pertinent to their duties.

In the end, organized software systems are the best way to start and continue the process of implementing a SMS at an airport. Everything is kept in a central database; the information is visualized in many ways; employees and staff get access to only what they need; and it’s a great way to go green and get rid of lots of paper clutter.

Safety Management Systems – A History for Part 139 Airports

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Safety is an ever-important part of the modern world due to our reliance on technology, machinery and other infrastructure built into our cities and towns – This is no different for the aviation industry, given the possible dangers of working with large machinery, many people, and upkeep of various systems.

This is where the International Civil Aviation Organization comes in. They proposed the idea of a required Safety Management System that airport operators must put into action. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiated this as a pilot study in May of 2010 for Part 139 certified airports, and it has been worked on since.

The Safety Management System (SMS) is, at its center, a collection of methods and strategies to constantly improve and maintain safety measures in airports and airlines across the United States.

There are four parts that make up a safety management system: Safety Policy, Safety Risk Management, Safety Assurance and Safety Promotion. Safety Policy is the foundation for the system, outlining the methods and tools necessary to reach safety goals and outlines management responsibility and accountability.

Safety Risk Management is the heart of SMS. It is a set of rules and processes that are used to identify hazards before they become an issue, digest safety risks, and create strategies to keep dangers to a manageable low.

Safety Assurance is the process used to keep meeting safety standards and objectives, as well as constantly improving general safety. This encompasses everything from information gathering and analysis to putting into action preventative and corrective measures for when safety goals are not met.

The final, all-encompassing component of SMS is Safety Promotion. This is what fosters the environment in which safety can be achieved, and is necessary to keep the objectives and goals managed. Promoting a positive safety culture allows employees to understand the SMS in place, communicate effectively, competently manage their responsibilities, continuous training, and share information well.

The idea of a required safety management system first came into being in 2006, proposed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO Annex 6, Part 1 directed all member states from January of 2009 and onward to have operators implement a safety management system.

Originally, SMS requirements were aimed at Part 121 Air Carriers. But in May of 2010, the FAA began a process to bring Part 139 airports under the same requirements for their airfield environments.

Fourteen airports participated in the pilot study, and all 14 applied for the Airport Improvement Program assistance, receiving a range of funds from $78,000 to $500,000.

Rulemaking by the FAA for Airport SMS is currently in the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) stage, meaning the rulemaking is still open to comments. The projected date for it to go to OMB is December 15, 2014, and is aimed to go through OMB Clearance by March 15, 2015. The end of the comment period is now aimed for May 20, 2015.

Time will tell what changes will be made for Part 139 Airports in regards to SMS requirements, and prepared airports will be a step ahead of the rest.