september2022 - 20

Cover Story
To ensure safe practices are being
carried out and regularly improved,
many aviation companies and FBOs are
adopting and implementing a safety
management system (SMS).
" SMS is the formal, top-down, organization-wide
approach to managing
safety risk and assuring the effectiveness
of safety risk controls, " explain
NATA COO Keith DeBerry and NATA
managing director of safety and training
Steve Berry. " It includes systematic
procedures, practices and policies for
the management of safety risk. "
A safety management system offers
a structured process designed to elevate
safety to the highest concern,
Berry and DeBerry point out, adding
an aviation business must treat safety
with the same attention as other business
concerns.
An SMS actively looks for safety
issues in daily operations and services
offered, considers safety objectives and
identifies top safety concerns, according
to Terry Yeomans, director of the
International Standard for Business
Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH) program
at the International Business Aviation
Council (IBAC).
" It's organized common sense, " he
says, adding an SMS develops corrective
actions to reduce the risks those safety
concerns present and monitors them
over time to be sure the risks have been
appropriately controlled.
" In layman's terms, the safety
management system is basically a
formalized way for the organization
to recognize and reduce risk before an
event occurs through measurement,
evaluation, surveillance and continuous
improvement, " say Baldwin Aviation -
Safety and Compliance senior manager
of standards Todd Thomas and Baldwin
Aviation - Safety and Compliance director
of standards Jason Starke.
" The SMS framework establishes
the policy, processes and procedures
for people to work together to
achieve this aim. "
Starting an SMS
When an organization is ready to implement
an SMS, it is vital that everyone
involved buys into the concept.
DeBerry and Berry recommend starting
at the top, securing CEO buy-in first.
" Without support at the very highest
levels of an organization, implementation
of a successful SMS is very difficult, "
they say.
Both recommend appointing a
member of senior leadership to lead the
While there are no specific requirements
designed for an SMS at an FBO or ground
handling company, it is best to concentrate
on the FBO activities that the organization's
scope of services cover.
development and implementation of the
SMS. Yeomans refers to this person as
the accountable executive (AE), adding
that person's commitment to safety culture
will drive policy accordingly.
FBOs and ground service providers
can also reference existing programs,
say Thomas and Starke. For example,
the framework for an SMS is included in
the International Civil Aviation Organization's
(ICAO) international standards
and recommended practices as part of
Annex 19 to the Convention on International
Civil Aviation.
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(14 CFR) also highlights SMS.
" They can also use a standard such
as IBAC IS-BAH or IATA Ground Operations
Manual (IGOM) / IATA Safety
Audit Ground Operations (ISAGO). If
they use either of these, the ground
handler can be recognized as meeting
the IATA or IS-BAH standards, " they
say. " If they use existing regulations
such as ICAO Annex 19 or 14 CFR Part
5 for non-ground handlers, they can
still create an effective SMS but will not
have it recognized by the regulators for
acceptance since there is not a current
requirement to do so. "
In addition to acquiring leadership
support, first steps for beginning an
20 || Ground Support Worldwide || September 2022
september2022

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