SMS Induction for Airline/Airport Safety Management Systems
Let's say you have purchased your accountable executive's aviation safety management system software and you have a Web based product. In order to use the airline/airport Web-based SMS application, users must be trained in its use and demonstrate that they understand their role in the aviation SMS program. Furthermore, all users must understand the overall objective of the airline/airport's aviation SMS system.
- Your users are trained in the elements of SMS for which they are responsible for; and
- Your organization can successfully and more efficiently withstand an audit.
Airline/Airport SMS software programs such as SMS Pro log users' induction process. However, if you don't want the airline/airport employees to use the SMS Induction process for whatever reason, contact NWDS and request this feature be removed when importing your users.
Using Web Based Aviation SMS Software to Document SMS Training
When an auditor comes to an aviation service provider's organization, they may (and should) ask whether all users understand how the implemented safety management system operates.Furthermore, they should also ask whether users are aware of the role they play in the aviation service provider's SMS program.
Of course, the safety manager and executives will say "Yes," and the SMS auditor will inevitably say: "Prove it."
Using the SMS Induction Module, you will be able to prove your users are inducted, such as name of employee and the date they have been inducted.When a user who is not inducted comes to your SMS Pro Portal, he will come to a page giving explicit instructions on what to do to gain access to the airline/airport's Web-based safety management database program. These instructions are completely configurable by the SMS Admin.
Aviation service providers may have links to training videos or instructions to read policies before users can proceed with the induction process.
Once users have finished completing the prerequisite steps to become inducted, the user returns to the main page and clicks the SMS Induction Process link.
Users will then read the Induction Introduction, and then select the "Next" button at the bottom of the screen to arrive at the "Induction Agreement."
Users will read the statements in the Induction agreement and check each box to indicate they agree. These questions are something like:
- You understand how our safety management system operates.
- You are aware of the role you play in our safety management system.
- You understand the aim of our safety management system is to improve safety– not to attribute blame.
- You have participated in either a formal or informal induction of our safety management system.
Email Notifications in Aviation SMS Software Facilitates Communication
After users have selected all boxes, they simply press the Submit button. An email is sent to the user telling them their request is being processed.
If users are unable to agree (and check all boxes), they will simply state why they are unable to agree and submit their concerns using the supplied textbox. An issue will be reported in SMS Pro alerting management that a user has problems with the Induction process. For example, a user may not believe the the goal of the SMS is to improve safety and that all issues will be used as a disciplinary mechanism.
When managers are at the SMS Induction module, they will see who is awaiting confirmation and also a list of those who have been inducted. SMS auditors really love this features.
This is how an aviation service provider's SMS Induction process should work to reduce SMS training time and document that users understand the SMS process.
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About NWDS - founded in 2003 by six software engineers, NorthWest Data Solutions (NWDS) provides custom computer programming and systems design services. NWDS creates many types of software, including e-commerce, financial, defense, engineering, logistics, aviation and more. In 2007, NWDS developed SMS Pro™ a web based SMS application that supports an organization's overall SMS through safety reporting, safety documentation, safety risk management and safety assurance. SMS Pro™ is currently used by aviation organizations in the U.S., Canada, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East to help manage their SMS programs. NWDS continues to support SMS Pro™ and add new functionality. NWDS offers custom contract programming services in the U.S. and Canada and is managed by Chris Howell, one of the founders. Their headquarters is in Anchorage, Alaska. For information on NWDS visit their website at www.nwds-ak.com and www.asms-pro.com to learn more about SMS Pro™.
