Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS): aviation auditing software

Showing posts with label aviation auditing software. Show all posts

Monday, October 28, 2013

Aviation Safety Management System (SMS) Audit - Achieving 4/4

Aviation Safety Management System (SMS) Audits - Getting Highest Marks

Aviation safety auditing software using checklists helps your airline or airport manage audits

Internal audit leaders and safety managers should place higher importance on effectively using technology to prepare their airline or airport for civil aviation authority SMS audits. Across the industry, there appears to be a significant gap between the importance that top airline and airport executives place on acquiring aviation SMS software tools and the perceived ability to use this aviation safety software to effectively prepare for audits and improve aviation safety.

Technology changes rapidly. If your internal auditors and safety managers are stuck using paper and MS Excel to prepare your airline or airport for an upcoming audit, they are way behind the times. New aviation SMS software exists to allow your safety and compliance teams to work together in managing pre-audit checklists.

Getting Top Aviation Safety Audit Marks from Civil Aviaiton Authorities

To help ensure your airline or airport consistently receives the highest auditing marks

Conduct a critical assessment of your airline/airport's current use of aviation safety software technology by the internal audit department.
Conduct an inventory of your technology tools and create a map relating tools to auditing efforts these tools support.
Develop plans for internal safety auditors to leverage the latest technologies to keep pace with technological advancements.
Establish close ties to other departments within your airline or airport to ensure you are pursuing complementary strategies and taking advantage of available technological resources.

It is important to determine whether the internal auditing department can use the same tools as other departments, such as the safety department. As an example, the Web based SMS Pro aviation SMS database software has auditing tools that can be used by both the safety and auditing departments. When your airline or airport has SMS Pro, audit checklists can be easily created or imported. Audits can be scheduled and managed within the user-friendly risk management framework.

Improving Your Aviation Safety Auditing Performance

To start the process to improve your aviation safety auditing performance, develop a long-term technology strategy addressing:

Core internal audit processes;
Real-time reports and analysis, continuous monitoring, and other technology-based activities;
Technology-related skill sets, reflecting the findings of a skills inventory for using these tools;
Budget requirements supporting technology-related goals;
Anticipated benefits of aviation safety auditing investments and activities; and
Measurements of the effectiveness of technology investments, processes, and activities.

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™.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Integrated Aviation Safety Audit Software for SMS Programs

SMS Pro has had safety auditing software tools for many years. Auditing had never been the primary focus of SMS Pro. SMS Pro was designed to provide Web based hazard reporting and risk management tools to airlines, airports, ATC, MROs (AMOs), flight schools and FBOs.

SMS Pro's aviation safety auditing software contained three modules:

Custom Audit/Inspection Form Creator;
Audit Scheduler; and
Audit Manager.

When performing an audit, all findings and concerns are managed in the risk management framework where corrective actions can be managed appropriately. Corrective action plans are also automatically generated and sent to stakeholders.

New Aviation Safety Auditing Software Features

Safety and compliance managers familiar with SMS Pro will love the new enhancements to SMS Pro. See screenshot below.

Aviation Safety Auditing Dashboard

The new safety auditing dashboard integrates the auditing form creator to the Audit Manager. The Safety Audit Dashboard allows one less menu item (Audit/Inspection Form Creator). Also, one can navigate to the Audit Scheduler.

More details about SMS Pro's aviation safety auditing software can be found at
http://asms-pro.com/Modules/SafetyAssurance/CustomInspectionFormCreator.aspx

How to best help your
Aviation Safety Management System

Become an SMS PRO

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Audit Management Systems Integrated into Safety Management Systems

Aviation safety audits are systematic examinations used to determine whether or not airline/airport business processes meet previously specified requirements, and are usually performed using question lists that are well-defined. Aviation safety audit results are valuated and documented in audit management databases. Audit management tools designed for the aviation industry help airlines and airports plan and process aviation safety audits, monitor corrective and preventive actions that were determined during aviation-related audits, and evaluate audit data according to different criteria.

Airline/Airport Auditing Software Must Be Flexible

Airline airport audit management systems for aviation safety

Airline/airport auditmanagement solutions should remain very flexible and allow airlines and airports to perform any type of audit that regulators or clients may require. For example, client-related quality audits (system audits, process audits, product audits, supplier audits), environmental audits, security audits (airport security, aircraft security, ramp security), or aviation safety audits.

Audit management solutions for airlines and airports can be applied to meet needs of all relevant norms like ISO 9001 or ISO 14001. Quality audit management solutions easily allow the integration of different audits, for example, the IOSA audits or Air Charter Safety Foundation audits for Flight Operations and Maintenance Operations. Since audits for aviation service providers are usually performed outside the office and in the field, mobile options are essential in supporting effective audit processing. Collaboration between the auditor and the audited party is typically required when corrective or preventive actions are agreed on, and have to effectively monitored, documented and managed to completion. For more sophisticated audit management systems, audited parties may use Internet applications to record actions, corrective actions and to report their completion.

Web Based Audit Management Solutions

Aviation safety management auditing software programs

Web-based audit management solutions often allow administrators to set up customized auditing questions, such as, "What flight operations standards are followed by your division?" Aviation related audits based on safety management regulations may be composed of multiple sections, with each section housing one or more questions. Questions may have different answer types, such as "True/False" or "Yes/No."

Administrators of these sophisticated auditing programs can customize auditing questions to suit corporate style and language; as well as adapting text for the sections and the questions.

Audit management solutions for aviation service providers must be suitable to process a wide variety of audit usages. Furthermore, audit management solutions must meet aviation service providers' requirements to unify different management systems into one integrated management system. This greatly reduces audit expenses. Web-based auditing solutions with a user-friendly interface ensures auditing functions of the audit management solution are accessible for authenticated users who have authorization, from any location, on the Web. Moreover, aviation service providers can have auditors directly attach documents and notes to auditing artifacts used in audit management.

With Web-based audit management solutions, information on audits is available for all users, thereby avoiding double work and leading to improvement of business processes. System integration of audit management solutions for aviation service providers with complex data environments provide access to a vast array of information from other areas in their aviation operations.

How to best help your
Aviation Safety Management System

Become an SMS PRO