Safety Management Systems

7 Pages 1803 Words

es operations and technical systems with financial and human resource management to achieve safe operations and compliance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations”(CAR 106.01). SMS evolved from System Safety which originated in the 1960s and shares many of the same components. SMS, however, has many additional components that is absolutely essential to its success, the accountable executive is probably the most important.
The accountable executive, by regulation, must have control of the financial and human resources for the operation and be at a level within the organization sufficiently high to exercise control over all certificates held. In most companies this would be the president or CEO. Mr. Al Graham, President and CEO of Air Transat, observed that accountable executives are responsible for what goes on in all areas of their companies and that systems that gather data assist in making sound decisions; much of this data is about safety. As an additional motivator for the accountable executive, if he/she is not performing his/her duties satisfactorily, Transport Canada may suspend one or more of the organization’s certificates.
Other than the accountable executive, SMS has many other components that are essential to its success. These include a safety policy and processes for measuring safety performance, identifying hazards, evaluating and ma...