CFR 135 SMS (Safety Management System) Program

[Fly_Unity]

I took a dedicated SMS course once upon a time, although I have little real world experience in the topic, and the class took place a while ago, but if it should help you, in your stead I would dig into Advisory Circular 120-92B, I recall there being a few samples contained within, and the FAA breaks down the sections into small, medium and large air-carrier operations.

These books also contain worthwhile information regarding SMS subject-matter. Warning: they are not cheap, but there is good stuff written into them:

Safety Management Systems in Aviation
Practical Safety Management Systems: A Practical Guide to Transform Your Safety Program into a Functioning Safety Management System
Implementing Safety Management Systems in Aviation

The first two texts have whole chapters dedicated to explaining SMS Risk Assessment techniques. It is mind-numbingly boring material, but if you are going about the process of implementing an SMS, detailed explanations on analytical techniques would prove to be handy.

Them are some expensive books. Thanks for the info!

 

[Roger Roger]

There are forms and there is culture, you should endeavour to have both but you can't, have the culture.


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Maybe that’s some of my beef with the various risk tools I’ve encountered. Where I’ve seen them, the form has been treated as the be-all end-all of safety decision making, and if you had a properly filled out one you were magically safe. Yet at the same time “hey boss, wind at PAXX is outside the limits we said we’re gonna hold to” “nah it’s coo, just git r dun rabble rabble rabble”.

 

[trafficinsight]

Maybe that’s some of my beef with the various risk tools I’ve encountered. Where I’ve seen them, the form has been treated as the be-all end-all of safety decision making, and if you had a properly filled out one you were magically safe. Yet at the same time “hey boss, wind at PAXX is outside the limits we said we’re gonna hold to” “nah it’s coo, just git r dun rabble rabble rabble”.

I refer you to my first post in this thread, then.

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[Cloud Surfer]

No, I’m saying that hard no-go limits (already established by part 121/135 for IFR ops) combined with PIC discretion is a proven and successful method of ensuring safety, where the real utility of the various risk assessment doodads is demonstrably pretty minimal (how long has Hageland had risk assessment forms?)

I think that forms can never substitute for either experience or training. Nonetheless, there are always fools at every shop. I trust that the greater majority of folks will mak praiseworthy choices most of the time; risk assessment forms are just another way of making sure that everyone assesses the multitude of factors which make our job potentially hazardous from time to time before we blast off to get the job done. Even the wisest, safest pilots make decisional mistakes every so often. The forms are also just a way of mitigating the odds of human error leading to an accident or incident. No one is immune to being killed, what does it hurt to fill a form out and see where you stand before heading out there.

 

[trafficinsight]

I think that forms can never substitute for either experience or training. Nonetheless, there are always fools at every shop. I trust that the greater majority of folks will mak praiseworthy choices most of the time; risk assessment forms are just another way of making sure that everyone assesses the multitude of factors which make our job potentially hazardous from time to time before we blast off to get the job done. Even the wisest, safest pilots make decisional mistakes every so often. The forms are also just a way of mitigating the odds of human error leading to an accident or incident. No one is immune to being killed, what does it hurt to fill a form out and see where you stand before heading out there.

I would hope that most of the time people would make praiseworthy decisions, but we've all seen someone who is led down the path of ruin one small judgement call at a time.

If risk assessment forms do one thing it's that the person who fills one out has to look into the data it takes to make that call. It is a big picture tool.




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[ppragman]

Well - so more important than Risk Assessment (tm) is risk mitigation.

If you assess all the risks and then go out and fly regardless of what you found, then that's kinda the problem right?

 

[ASpilot2be]

So here, to me, is the funny/ridiculous thing about risk assessment forms etc.

US Part 121 carriers, probably the safest form of transportation in human history, don’t use a risk assessment form.

We did at Penair to certain airports. Dutch Harbor was one where it was required.

I understand what you are trying to imply.... I did a year at a part 135 in Alaska, and the PIC had to fill out a risk assessment matrix before every flight. Beyond a certain threshold that I forget what it was, the flight would be cancelled because it is too risky. At the 121 carrier that I fly for though, our safety department runs quantative risk assessment probability equations on every route that we take, as well as every new procedure that we adopt...it doesn't stop there either, everything is continuously monitored and risk controls are perpetuously assessed. So yes it is true that 121 pilots must not fill out any forms, but that function has been replaced by sophisticated hardware that takes over such mundane tasks whereas a smaller part 135 operator will not have access to more expensive resources to run such programs.

Hahahaha. I remember those forms.

 

[ppragman]

I think that forms can never substitute for either experience or training. Nonetheless, there are always fools at every shop. I trust that the greater majority of folks will mak praiseworthy choices most of the time; risk assessment forms are just another way of making sure that everyone assesses the multitude of factors which make our job potentially hazardous from time to time before we blast off to get the job done. Even the wisest, safest pilots make decisional mistakes every so often. The forms are also just a way of mitigating the odds of human error leading to an accident or incident. No one is immune to being killed, what does it hurt to fill a form out and see where you stand before heading out there.

I'd really like to learn more about that system. Got any more info - I probably can't do quite as good as that but there may be some techniques we could apply...