Showing posts with label aviation safety software. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aviation safety software. Show all posts

Friday, April 24, 2015

Aviation Safety Dashboard Enhancements

Configurable Aviation SMS Software Dashboard

Airline & airport managers need tools to check the status of organizational safety progress. Dashboard charts offer quick glimpses into their aviation SMS databases.

SMS Pro has approximately 25 individual dashboard charts. SMS Admins can choose which users can view individual reports. To see SMS Pro's Executive Dashboard, see...

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Configurable Safety Dashboard for Airlines & Airports

The Executive Dashboard can be configured by each user. They can drag and drop reports into positions and delete unwanted reports.


More information about aviation SMS software can be found at:




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, February 19, 2014

Managing SMS in Non-Complex Organization Using Aviation Safety Software

Tips to Manage Safety in Non-Complex Organizations Using Safety Software

managing aviation sms requirements in non-complex organization

During the summer 2013 aviation safety management software course put on by SMS Pro, a European student brought this Self-Assessment for Non-Complex Organizations. He was concerned about an upcoming audit. He asked how SMS Pro could help their flight operations pass this audit.

Consequently, we took an hour from the class and answered each item as follows.

Guidance Ref
Compliance
Y/ N / Partial
Comments / Reference to compliance
Management commitment and responsibility 5.1 Is there a written safety policy endorsed by the Accountable Manager? Available in Policies & Procedures module. Also notifies when policy requires review.
5.1 Does Senior Management continuously promote and demonstrate its commitment to the safety policy? CEO commitment visible to all when users come to Safety Workspace
5.1 Has the safety policy been communicated effectively throughout the organisation? Safety Policy is visible to all in Policies & Procedures module. Users also review Safety Policy when inducted into SMS Pro.
5.1 Does the safety policy cover the points in this guidance material? Left to operator to structure policy. Safety Policy templates available by SMS Pro.
Safety accountabilities 5.2 Are the safety accountabilities and responsibilities of the Accountable Manager and other key staff members clearly defined and published for all staff and contractors to see? Duties & Requirements of Key Safety Personnel module satisfies this nicely.
5.2 Does the Accountable Manager have full responsibility for the SMS and authority to make decisions regarding the budget? Left to operator
5.2 Has the management structure of the organisation been defined? Organization Chart visible to all employees under Safety Policy menu.
5.2 Are all staff members aware of their safety roles and responsibilities? Duties & Requirements of Key Safety Personnel module satisfies this nicely. Lists each role and their responsibility. Must review as part of the SMS induction process.
Appointment of
key safety staff members
5.3 Has a focal point/Safety Manager for the SMS been appointed? Left to operator. Safety manager information visible to all in Safety Workspace.
5.3 Is there a direct reporting line between the SMS focal point/ Safety Manager and the Accountable Manager? Left to operator
5.3 Does the SMS focal point/ Safety Manager have the appropriate SMS knowledge and understanding? Left to operator. Training is offered by SMS Pro.
5.3 Does the organisation have a Safety Committee? Left to operator
5.3 Does the Safety Committee monitor the safety performance and the effectiveness of the SMS? Safety committee can monitor the SMS program using Meeting Manager to review issue and document remarks.
5.3 Does the Safety Committee meet regularly and are the meetings minuted? Meeting Manager schedules meetings and tracks meeting minutes. PDF archives document meetings.
Emergency response planning 5.4 Has an emergency response plan been developed and is it kept up to date? Left to operator. ERP documentation is stored in version-controlled document manager.
5.4 Are the roles, responsibilities and actions of key staff members defined in the ERP? These roles & responsibilities can be documented in Duties & Requirements of Key Safety Personnel
5.4 Does the ERP include all the considerations in this guidance material if appropriate? Left to operator
5.4 Is the ERP regularly reviewed and tested? New emergency drills module helps satisfy this requirement.
Safety documentation 5.5 Does the safety management manual or safety documentation in existing manuals contain all the elements as detailed in this guidance material? SMS Manual Creator has templates of appropriate Safety Manuals. Manuals can be stored in version-controlled document manager.
5.5 Is it regularly reviewed? Policy for regularly reviewing safety manager can be kept in Policies & Procedures, which automatically reminds user to review Safety Manual.
5.5 Is there a system for the recording and storage of SMS documentation and records i.e. hazard logs, risk assessments, safety reports from staff/contractors and safety cases? Issue Manager addresses everything except safety cases. Safety Case Manager holds all the safety cases.
Hazard identification 6.2 Is there a confidential safety reporting system? Issue reporting allows for anonymous and confidential reporting.
6.2 Are safety reports assigned an ‘owner’ and reviewed by the Safety Committee? Safety reports are automatically assigned a responsible manager who then reviews the report and forwards report to appropriate dept head. Review by safety committee is performed using Meeting Manager.
6.2 Is there feedback to the reporter? Automatic feedback occurs when users report issues. They can track progress in multiple ways.
6.3 Is there a written procedure describing how hazards are identified? Hazard Identification procedures are stored in Policies & Procedures module
6.3 Have the major hazards associated with the organisation been identified? Proactive Hazard Analysis Tool (PHAT) and Hazard Register are used to manage this requirement.
Risk assessment and mitigation 6.4 Is there a risk assessment process in place? Assessment tab in Issue Manager provides a logical process
6.4 Is the risk tolerability matrix appropriate and can it be applied consistently? Configurable risk matrix can be adapted to all organizations
6.4 Is there a process for deciding any necessary risk mitigation? Based on assessment, corrective actions are assigned and tracked as necessary
6.4 Are risk mitigations and controls being verified/audited to confirm the effectiveness? Issue Validation module alerts managers when issues and associated corrective actions must be reviewed.
6.7 Are risks being managed to a reasonable level? Left to operator
6.9 Are the hazards and risks recorded on a hazard log? Hazard log is part of Hazard Registry module
Safety performance monitoring 7.2 Have safety performance indicators been defined? Easily setup and monitored on the Classify tab in Issue Manager. Tracked in various reports modules.
7.3 Are the safety performance indicators reviewed regularly to identify any trends? Automated trend alerts notify management of developing trends.
Management of change 7.4 Is there a process to proactively identify hazards and to mitigate risks when significant changes in the organisation occur? Management of Change module provides a structured process to manage this task.
Incident management 7.5 Are safety investigations carried out after incidents or accidents to establish root cause? Very robust investigation module with root cause analysis, human factors and final report generation exportable to Lessons Learned Library or as PDF
7.5 Are the hazards identified from safety investigations addressed and communicated to the rest of the organisation? Lessons Learned are generated on the Investigation tab. Lessons Learned can be emailed to everyone in a particular division.
Continuous improvement 7.6 Is continuous improvement in the safety performance being achieved? The routine (annual) gap analysis demonstrates continuous improvement
Safety auditing 7.7 Are safety audits and surveys carried out? Audit checklist creator, audit scheduler and audit manager make up the audit suite. Finding and concerns are driven to the risk management framework where corrective actions are tracked. Safety Survey module manages surveys.
7.7 Is there an independent quality system or third party agency that audits the SMS? Left to operator
Safety training 8.1 Have all staff been appropriately trained in respect of the SMS and their safety roles and responsibilities? SMS Induction Manager documents SMS initial training. Workflow ensures users are trained before gaining access to the program.
Communication 8.2 Does safety related information get communicated to all staff members as appropriate? Newsletters and Message Board communicates safety issues to employees.
8.2 Does relevant safety information reach external users/customers etc? Issue Manager allows emailing notifications to civil aviation authorities and others. Vendor Message Acknowledgement has features to communicate to contractors
SMS implementation 9.1 Has a gap analysis been carried out? Gap analysis module with many models to choose from
9.2 Is there an SMS implementation plan? SMS Implementation plan lists and documents the progress of each activity.
9.2 Does the implementation plan reflect the gap analysis? Implementation Plan Manager is configurable by operator to reflect gap analysis performance
9.2 Is the implementation plan on target? Left to operator




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™.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Management Benefits of Aviation SMS Software

Challenges of Convincing Management to Purchase Aviation SMS Software

Safety managers around the world have the constant challenge of convincing management that Web based safety management software is required to manage all the ICAO SMS requirements.

The following PowerPoint presentation is designed to make your case to management to purchase SMS software. Let's face it. Safety Managers love the SMS Pro web-based aviation SMS software program because it saves safety managers tremendous amounts of time and money. But there are benefits for all managers in an organization using SMS Pro.

Benefits of Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) Software

For more information on SMS Pro, visit this aviation safety management software (SMS) software website.



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™.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Aviation Safety Management Software - Email Attachments

Attach Emails and Attachments to Reported Issues

Modern Web-based enterprise risk management software allows managers to have all documentation in a centralized location. When auditors come sniffing around your safety program, stress naturally builds when safety managers are unable to produce required documentation.

SMS Pro has flexible work flow processes to document auditable risk management processes. In most cases, all the documentation stays with reported issues from the time the airline/airport accident, incident or irregularity is reported, until the issue is reviewed years later.

New Email Attachments' Features

New aviation safety management software features have been recently added to SMS Pro's airline/airport safety software. These features allow email attachments to be securely incorporated into the airline/airport safety management documentation during risk management processes. See http://www.asms-pro.com for more information on SMS Pro aviation safety management software.

When an aviation-related accident or incident is reported, safety managers often gather considerable documentation, such as
    aviation safety management software
  • Photos;
  • Videos;
  • PDFs;
  • Word Docs;
  • Text files, etc.

This documentation becomes "attached" to the issue either when the:
  • Issue has been reported;
  • Preliminary investigation is processed;
  • Formal investigation occurs;
  • Corrective actions are being managed; or
  • Issue has been reviewed during the monitoring process.

Attach Emails and Attachments to Reported Issues

Managers can now easily attach any email and the accompanying attachments to issues they are working on. This feature has been provided to SMS Pro clients in order to save managers' time while managing documentation from third parties, which often is accompanied with attachments.

Feature Reserved for Managers Only

  1. To attach emails to reported issues, you must be a safety manager or a department head.
  2. You can only attach emails to issues belonging to your aviation safety portal.
  3. You must know the convenience number of the reported issue.

How to Attach Emails to Reported Issues

  • Each company has a target-email to forward messages to be attached.
  • You must know your target email. Contact techsupport@nwds-ak.com if you don't know your target email.
  • You must know the issue number to which you wish to attach the email.
  • In the subject line, at the very end of the subject, add #xxx (xxx) is the issue number.
  • You must use the # tag
  • You must not put a space between the # tag and the issue number
    • "# xxx" is bad
    • "#xxx" is good
  • Forward the email and attachments to your target-email.
aviation safety management software

How Email Attachments Work

  • Every 30 minutes, SMS Pro reads the target emails to find new messages;
  • SMS Pro determines who sent the message (only valid users are permitted);
  • SMS Pro searches for the reported issue;
  • If reported issue exists, and the user is valid, then attachments are created.
  • Email messages are put into an HTML file and attached to issue;
  • All other email attachments act as normal issue attachments.


Note:
SMS Pro will import company logos that are included in signature lines. SMS Pro cannot discern between company logo attachments and other valid image attachments. When these company logos are imported, a manager will have to clean up these "unintended" attachments in the Issue Manager on the "Attachments" tab.






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™.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

What Makes the Best Aviation Safety Management Software for Airlines & Airports

Looking for the Best Aviation Safety Management Software?

Many airlines and airports are searching for aviation safety management software to comply with ICAO SMS requirements. There are several attributes to look for when evaluating the best aviation SMS software tools.

Web Based Aviation Safety Software Ensures Global Access

The best aviation safety management software solutions can be accessed from any place at any time via Internet and are suited to airlines or airports of all sizes. These aviation SMS software solutions offer:

Best Aviation Safety Management Software for Airlines & Airports
  • Secure, convenient methods for aviation safety risk assessments;
  • All types of airline or airport audits or inspections;
  • Accident, incident, hazard reporting;
  • Email notifications to configured airline or airport personnel;
  • Corrective preventive action tracking; 
  • Automated trend analysis and alerts; and 
  • Escalation capabilities. 

The best aviation safety software helps your airline or airport ensure it remains compliant with the all ICAO and civil aviation authority legislation and standards. Flexible aviation SMS software:

  • Follows industry best practices;
  • Is quick to implement;
  • Is user-friendly and easy to use; and 
  • Is extremely cost effective.

Complete Aviation Safety Management Software Solution

Best Aviation Safety Management Software for Airlines & Airports
SMS Pro is known as one of the best aviation safety software programs on the market. For example, SMS Pro is offered either as "software as a service" (SaaS) or can be hosted on your airline or airport servers. When your airline or airport chooses the SaaS model as your aviation safety management software, you will have:

  • No capital expenditure on servers;
  • No internal software maintenance and management;
  • No need for backup software and storage;
  • Flexibility -Anyone with a browser can access SMS Pro;
  • Security - Secure Web servers managed by IT professionals.

Reliable Servers Required for Global Aviation Safety Management Software

When choosing aviation safety software that is provided as SaaS, ensure that the servers are managed 24/7/365 and monitored continuously. Automated alerts should be emailed to administrators whenever service is disrupted. These principles hold true even if you place SMS Pro on your airline or airport servers. The servers hosting the aviation safety software should be set up for pro-active maintenance so administrators know about faults before they develop. 

Disaster Recovery Plans Necessary for Aviation Safety Software

In the unlikely event of a problem, ensure your aviation safety software provider has a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that ensures the integrity of your airline or airport safety data. The best aviation safety software providers have redundant servers seamlessly available in the event of hardware failure. It is imperative that databases and files are regularly and automatically backed up. Automated alerts should also notify administrators that backups completed successfully.



Aviation Safety Management Software


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™.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Safety Software

SAFETY SOFTWARE FOR AIRLINES & AIRPORTS

Hazard Reporting, SMS Auditing Tools, Risk Management, Enterprise Grade Safety Software

Serving Airlines & Airports Across the World.

Custom Safety Software Based on ICAO, FAA, Transport Canada, EASA Requirements 

Serving Airlines and Airports since 2008 with cutting edge safety software design, implementation, and maintenance.
  • Safety software for all size airlines and airports (10 employees to ten thousand)
  • SQL Server Database Implementation
  • Custom Client and Server Safety Software
  • Contract Design and Programming Services for Custom Safety Software Solutions
  • Paper based and MS Excel systems are less effective than ever.
  • International airlines and airports must have Web presence. 
  • We provide safety software solutions for all aviation industry segments. 

Web-based safety software can make a difference in user acceptance. Engage employees with functional safety software tools that are user friendly...

More Aviation Safety Management Software Information



Thursday, March 28, 2013

Safety Management System Software


SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE

SMS Hazard Reporting, Auditing Tools, Risk Management, Enterprise Grade

Serving Airlines & Airports Across the World.

Custom Safety Management System Software 

Serving Airlines and Airports since 2008 with cutting edge safety management system software design, implementation, and maintenance.
  • Safety management system software for all size airlines and airports (10 employees to ten thousand)
  • SQL Server Database Implementation
  • Custom Client and Server safety management system software programming
  • Contract Design and Programming Services for safety management system software
  • Paper based and MS Excel systems are less effective than ever.
  • International airlines and airports must have Web presence. 
  • We can provide aviation safety management system software for all aviation industry segments. 

Web-based systems can make a difference in user acceptance. Engage employees with functional aviation safety 
management system software that is user friendly... 


Additional Information About Aviation Safety Management Software

Airline Safety Management Software
SMS for Aviation Purposes
Flight Safety Software
Online SMS Training by SMS Pro
Aviation Safety Reporting Software
Airline Safety Software
Safety Software
Aviation Safety Management System Software
Airport Safety Software
Safety Management System Software
Aviation SMS Software
Safety Audit Checklist
Four Pillars of Safety Management
Aviation Safety Solutions
Aviation SMS Safety Management Systems
Airport SMS Software
Airline SMS Software





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™.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Policy & Audit Elements of Effective Risk Management Programs

Aviation SMS Safety Policy & Audits

Without a doubt, every aviation service provider is different. Airline and airport aviation safety management systems (SMS) should be designed to address the specific needs of individual airlines and airports. All formal SMS programs will have these two common elements:
In this short article, we will discuss SMS Policy and Audits elements of an effective ICAO SMS Program.

Aviation safety policy
Aviation Safety Policies Come from the Top

Airline & Airport Safety Policy

Every basic aviation risk management program, whether it is for an airport, airline, charter operator, aviation maintenance organization (AMO or MRO), requires a statement of the operator's objectives and the responsibilities of the company, top management, line staff managers, and workers. This statement, typically called an aviation safety policy, typically states:
  • The CEO, top management commitment to the SMS program
  • Airline/Airport commitment to protect the safety of workers and all stakeholders
  • The objectives and priorities of the operator's SMS program
  • The safety duties and responsibilities of the top management, line supervisors, and workers
Effective aviation safety policies should be simply written and easy to understand. They do not need to be long, drawn out novels. After all, the aviation safety policy is not designed for "show," but to be actually read and understood by all employees. Therefore, keep it simple, clear and concise.

The written aviation SMS policy should be signed by the CEO or the most senior manager, whatever his title may be. It should be dated and reviewed annually. All workers should be made aware of the policy and its importance. For example, it could be given to all new workers and posted in the workplace, or on the aviation service provider's Web site. Some modern Web based aviation safety management systems have polices and procedures integrated into the aviation risk management software.

Regular Safety Audits and Inspections

Regular audits and inspections of the workplace are intended to:
aviation safety audits and inspections
  • Identify conditions and unsafe acts with the potential to cause injury or damage to equipment
  • Determine necessary corrective measures
  • Prevent unsafe operating conditions from developing
  • Ensure industry standards and best practices are being followed

Three different kinds of audits and inspections are described below:
  • Regular, planned workplace audits and inspections: Inspect buildings, structures, grounds, aircraft, tools, equipment, machinery, and work methods and practices for hazards that might cause injury or damage to aircraft or the environment. Schedule these audits and inspections at appropriate intervals to prevent unsafe conditions developing. Depending on the aviation service provider and the type of hazards that might develop, audits and inspections may be scheduled daily, weekly, or monthly.
  • Equipment audits and inspections: Workers should be trained to inspect their machinery, tools, and equipment regularly, following the manufacturer’s minimum recommendations. National regulatory agencies may also have specific requirements. 
  • Special audits and inspections: National civil aviation regulatory agencies typically require special inspections or audits after certain types of events to ensure that operations do not resume until it is safe to do so.

Airline & Airport Audits and Inspections

SMS inspection teams typically include both worker and management representatives. Very often, a third-party auditor regularly conducts these audits and inspections. SMS auditing teams should be familiar with the work flow process and, whenever possible, include members of the joint safety committee or the company's safety representative.

Aviation Safety Audit Checklists

aviation SMS safety audits and inspections
Safety Audits Serve Serveral Purposes
Inspection checklists can help ensure that audits and inspections are thorough, results are recorded, and the inspection process is standardized. A checklist is particularly useful in guiding those unfamiliar with the
inspection process. Checklists should be adapted to suit the needs of each aviation service provider's unique operations.

Safety audit checklists can also be used as a guide for the airline and airport to prepare for the audit or inspection. The audit and inspection should never be a "surprise," and advance warning of audits are almost always provided in advance. Therefore, using auditors' checklists as "pre-audit checklists" offers several benefits to the airline or airport, including training, convenience and time and cost savings.

Managing Safety Audit Findings and Concerns

Any unsafe or harmful conditions found during a regular inspection or audit should be reported immediately to the supervisor or employer and remedied without delay. This is commonly done through the airline or airport's hazard reporting system. When auditing processes are well-integrated into an operator's risk management processes, the work flow is seamless and saves considerable time and money in labor savings to manage these findings and concerns.

Document and communicate all significant findings and concerns for future reference. Each hazard or inconsistency identified should be recorded and the corrective actions taken to eliminate or control each item. Ensure to communicate this information to the joint safety committee for their review and approval.

Auditing is an iterative process when you consider the work flow over the course of several years. Audits and inspections offer airlines and airports an opportunity to improve operations and serve as an effective tool to educate managers and employees alike on the safe business practices. With this in mind, one should not always view safety audits as a waste of time, but as an opportunity.






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™.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Aviation Key Safety Performance Indicators (KPIs)


Aviation Key Safety Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Aviation KPI Guide Operational Goals
Aviation key performance indicators or KPIs (also known in the industry as safety performance indicators) provide airlines and airports important metrics to improve their aviation safety record. Key Performance Indicators measure organizations' critical success factors. KPIs may differ depending on type of aviation organization, such as size of airline, helicopter operations, air traffic control or MROs.  An important Key Performance Indicator for every airline or airport is the number of reported hazards, accidents and incidents during the year. This not only measures the obvious, but also infers corporate safety culture or the reporting culture of the individual airline or airport.

Whatever Key Performance Indicators your choose to adopt for your airline or airport, they must reflect important organizational goals. KPIs must be key to organizational success, and they must be quantifiable (measurable). Aviation Key Safety Performance Indicators may be long-term or short term (quarterly, semi-annual or annual). Which safety key performance indicators your organization targets and how they are measured should not change often in order for results to be compared with over time. Tracking KPIs over time helps identify trends and demonstrates improvements (or lack of).

Organizational goals for particular Key Performance Indicators may change as organizational goals change, or as you approach the completion of your goals. Therefore, don't feel that you have to be married to your chosen KPIs indefinitely.

Aviation Safety Performance Monitoring


Web Based Aviation Safety Software Tracks Goals
In SMS Pro's Web based aviation safety management software, your organization creates goals and objectives based on past performance. In SMS Pro's Goals & Objectives module, real time statistics are generated so your organization can easily create realistic goals and objectives based on real-time aviation safety key performance indicators.

Which aviation key performance indicators you configure or find of value will differ from your type of operations, whether you belong to flight ops or air traffic management, MROs, helicopter operators, etc. However, we have identified several safety performance indicators that are common across all airlines and airports and these are captured in SMS Pro's "Performance Monitoring" module.

For example, a most useful safety performance indicator is the financial data. How much money have all your safety-related issues cost your organization this year, last year, the last ten years? Or if you like, you may narrow down the financial safety performance indicator to determine which division in your organization costs the organization most in terms of safety, security, quality, compliance or environmental issues.

Most Common Aviation Safety Performance Indicators

Air traffic management key performance indicators vary little from the key performance indicators of airlines, airports, MROs & helicopter operators. For example, widely popular and acceptable KPIs include financial, aviation safety investigations, safety communications and types of issues reported (Safety, Quality, Security, Compliance and Environmental).

 Another useful tool to effectively identify your safety performance indicators are "Trending Charts." SMS Pro has very full featured aviation safety trending charts to allow you to visualize your aviation safety key performance indicators.

Purpose of Aviation Safety Key Performance Indicators

Many aviation professionals and SMS subject matter consultants have provided feedback into the  development of SMS Pro's safety performance indicators that target useful aviation-related business processes at the management level. What follows are some safety key performance indicator metric that are tracked automatically be SMS Pro's Web based aviation safety software:

General KPIs


 In SMS Pro, these aviation safety key performance indicators may be filtered by year and division.

If you see an aviation safety key performance indicator missing from this list, please drop us an email at chowell@nwds-ak.com.

Other Lists of Key Performance Indicators

List of Key Performance Indicators for Airlines
List of Key Performance Indicators for Airports/Aerodromes

Other Learning Resources About Aviation KPIs for Airlines & Airports

Choosing Key Performance Indicators - Airlines and Airports
5 Tips for Controlling Aviation Key Performance Indicators
7 Quick Tips for a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Strategy
4 Steps to Automate Key Performance Indicator KPI Monitoring





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™.

Hidden Tip for Web Based Aviation SMS Automated Email Notification

Automated Email Notification for Overdue Hazard Reviews

The more sophisticated Web based aviation safety management system software for aviation has built in schedulers that can perform automated tasks. Configuring automated tasks requires understanding the capabilities of the aviation SMS software and what to ask for. The following tips are advanced subjects for configuring the automated email notifications for overdue airline/airport reported incidents and accidents and their associated corrective preventive actions.

Aviation SMS Software Settings: Who Gets Notified For Particular Events?

Not all users should be notified for each type of event in your aviation SMS software. There is a fine line of quality, informed email notifications and desensitizing the user due to information overload caused by a flood of email notifications from your airline/airport hazard reporting and risk management software program.

Aviation SMS Software Cuts Costs
In most cases, users need to know when they have overdue tasks, corrective preventive actions or assigned issues. It is best that users get a summary email listing out the numbers of types of issues requiring attention. Specific details should be left out for security purposes.

Upper level management should be notified when the airline or airport encounters a high risk issue. Emails are trigger automatically in SMS Pro when high risk issues are first discovered and also when  the accident or incident investigation (entire issue) is closed. Notifying upper management that a high risk issue has been closed makes good sense because management may wish to follow up to determine whether the accident or incident was managed properly. In other cases, an upper level manager may wish to notify affected stakeholders that the matter has been resolved.

When Are Notifications Sent in Aviation Safety Management Software?

Events or event dates trigger notification. Events may be "high risk closed," or "you have been assigned a corrective preventive action." Understanding these "new action" events is very easy. Time related events, such as expiration dates, and "action required on dates," is also not difficult to understand, but requires that administrators understand that functionality exists to manipulate email notifications for your hazard reporting and risk management software program. This leads us to discuss event/task lead times.

Understanding Task Lead Times in Aviation SMS Software

Often, we don't want to be notified the day an issue is due. In the aviation safety Policies and Procedures module in SMS Pro, you will notice that there are lead times to notify you before a policy or procedure requires review. In this case, you can set two reminders or task lead times. These are Task Lead Time #1 and Task Lead Time #2. When you set the first task lead time, such as 14 for example, you will be notified 14 days ahead of time that the selected policy or procedure requires review. In this case, the manager of the aviation safety Policies and Procedures module has complete control over the "task lead times."

For other tasks, corrective preventive actions and "assigned" reported airline/airport accidents and incidents, the task lead time is not configurable by the SMS Admin. You will need to contact SMS Pro support staff to set a Global Task Lead Time setting in the database that is common for your company, regardless of whether you have 20 employees or 10,000 employees on the portal. This task lead time is set to 0 by default. This means that when the item is due/overdue, you are automatically notified by email.

Hidden Setting for Aviation SMS Email Notifications

There is a setting that NWDS support staff can set in the database called Task Lead Time. By default, it is set to 0, which means that no lead time is calculated before sending email notifications for overdue or coming due assigned issues, tasks or corrective preventive actions. If this setting interests you, then contact NWDS to change this setting from the default setting. You may wish to set the task lead time to three or seven. This setting should be discussed among top management so everyone understands the process.

Reduce Confusion on Task Lead Time for Aviation SMS Email Notifications

Users can easily understand due/overdue concepts. Task lead time may confuse users, so this concept must be taught to everyone concerned. Because of this potential risk of confusion, the setting default is 0.





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™.