Monday, May 13, 2013

Using Aviation Safety Audit Management Software

Safety Audit Management Software in SMS Pro

Aviation safety audits or investigations are typically stressful and time consuming. Preparing yourself and your airline or airport is the best way to make the process go smoothly. This saves time and money for all parties concerned. SMS Pro has several very inexpensive safety audit management software tools available for airlines, airports, flight schools, FBOs, AMOs (MROs) and our existing corporate charter operators. Many free aviation safety auditing downloads can be found on http://www.aviation-sms.com.

Aviation Safety Audit Software Tools

Using Aviation Safety Audit Management Software

Understanding the safety auditing tools is important for safety and quality managers to effectively prepare for safety audits, whether they are internal safety audits performed by your airline or airport, or external audits performed by aviation regulatory authorities or clients. Before we get too far into managing internal and external audits, let's review the available aviation safety auditing software modules available in SMS Pro.

1) Inspection Form Creator

Internal safety audits always begin with safety audit checklists. Checklists ensure that safety auditors review all the processes or procedures according to the standards of the specified audit. Aviation safety audits ensure airlines and airports are performing to prescribed standards. These standards are best laid out in checklists against which safety auditors answer with "yes/no," "true/false," etc.

Inspection Form Creator allows airlines and airports to very easily create aviation safety audit forms, whether they are airfield ground lighting, runway inspections, ground handling procedures, contractor/supplier evaluations, etc. As you can see, Inspection Form Creator is used for audits, inspections and evaluations.

In short, internal safety audits needs safety audit checklists and these checklists are created in the Inspection Form Creator.

2) Aviation Safety Audit Scheduler

Using Aviation Safety Audit Management Software at airlines and airportsAviation Safety Audit Scheduler provides a calendar view of all aviation safety audits. SMS Pro can have more than one Safety Audit Scheduler per portal. For example, you may not want aviation maintenance departments to be overwhelmed with flight operations' safety audits. In this case, contact SMS Pro support and ask for another page to be created in your SMS Pro safety portal. If you have already taken the Advanced SMS Pro Administrator Training, you can do this yourself.

As you can easily imagine, the Aviation Safety Audit Scheduler allows managers to schedule internal and external safety audits. While scheduling the aviation safety audit, managers setup:
  • Audit Inspection Form(s) to be used;
  • Responsible Manager;
  • Audit Team;
  • Schedule Reminders to Auditing Team;
  • Recurring Audits.
To perform an aviation safety audit, members of the audit team can either start from the safety audit scheduling calendar or directly from the Safety Audit Manager.

3) Safety Audit Manager

aviation safety audit software for airlines and airiports
The third aviation safety auditing software module in SMS Pro is the Audit Manager. Audit Manager is where:
  • Audit Team answers selected safety audit checklists;
  • Audit Team adds attachments (photos, support documentation);
  • Responsible Manager accepts the completed aviation safety audit;
  • Final PDF reports are generated for printing or review.
When the auditing team discovers safety audit finding or concerns, reported issues are sent to SMS Pro's risk management software module, Issue Manager. Let's see how this works next.

4) Issue Manager - Aviation Safety Audit Managing Software

During the aviation safety audit, finding or concerns may be identified. Corrective actions must be managed to ensure identified shortcomings are addressed to ensure conformity to standards. Finally, a report must be made to audit stakeholders detailing the plan to correct the findings and concerns. SMS Pro's Issue Manager does this very nicely. Corrective Action Plans are generated automatically and you can send them to interested parties.


To learn more about SMS Pro's suite of aviation audit management software modules, visit here.

More Information About Aviation Safety Audit Management Software

Failing Your Aviation Safety Audit - Next Steps?
Internal Auditors' Reporting Software
Audit Inspection Form Creator
Safety Audit Checklists
Audit Management Systems Integrated into Safety Management Systems
Policy & Audit Elements of Effective Risk Management Programs






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™.