What is a Safety Management System? How do I assess

Inspections and Audits are often done in a compliance “checkbox” format. For example, an inspector goes into an organization and asks “Do you have a fire extinguisher in the lunch room?” If yes, the inspector checks the box. In SMS the inspector asks “do you have a fire extinguisher and do know how to use it?” It is more performance oriented. In performance based assessment the focus turns to questions such as "How do you do it? How do you perform?" and not just can I check the box. In order to successfully assess an operator's SMS, an inspector (1) has to be trained how to shift away from simple compliance based assessment to a performance based assessment, and (2) has to have a solid understanding of what an SMS is in order to do a performance based assessment.
Many Safety Inspectors have been trained initially how to do an assessment of an organization’s SMS program but the assumption was that they (the safety inspectors) had an understanding of SMS which they did not. Consequently, their effectiveness in evaluating programs was diminished because they did not have that practical experience with an SMS. They were reading about the SMS programs. However, they were reading the same material that the operators were reading and based on that they were expected to go out and evaluate the operator’s SMS programs. For example, Safety Inspectors were often asked to describe an organization’s development of safety goals and objectives. Their response was that the company was responsible for developing them. They would have to wait and see what the company handed them. And, of course, they had no real understanding (no mental picture or mental model) of what goals and objectives should be so they could not really judge whether or not the goals and objectives handed them were any good or not. They were more likely to accept whatever was presented because they did not have the knowledge or skills to assess them properly. Often they just repeated what was in the regulations as a “fall back zone”. They would simply quote a chapter or requirement out of the regulation without any real understanding. As a result, SCSI has developed this course for regulators which teaches both (1) inspector training about how to assess someone else’s SMS and (2) training on what an SMS is all about.
In the assessment material in this course, the instructor will bring examples of many SMS assessment checklists that have recently been developed by Transport Canada along with the accompanying written expectations for an SMS program that safety inspectors can use. They are helpful and very practical. With the SMS approach, the goal is to move toward showing safety performance improvements versus simple compliance with the rules and regulations. Also, when a company asks for an SMS evaluation, the SMS program can be very large or complicated, or both. The question is where to start. This course provides an answer.

The course is fast paced, practical, and designed to be of immediate use to air safety inspectors. It is based on the ICAO SMS approach as shown in Figures 1 and 2.