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There currently is no pathway to have your SMS "approved" by the FAA or anybody else for that matter. The SMS is for the most part, entirely self-evaluated.
For regulated certificate holders (121/139), the FAA determines compliance during regular inspections and can take appropriate steps to bring the certificate holder into compliance, including administrative, enforcement and/or certificate action.
For non-regulated operators (part 91), the SMS either conforms to the standard or it doesn't, (AC120-92B) without any oversight from the FAA. For these operators, SMS is "voluntary" with the caveat, SMS is mandated by ICAO, who can and has enforced the rule.
To determine your SMS's performance and effectiveness is a completely different process than determining compliance and conformity.
Starting implementation projects in 2006, it became obvious operators were neither staffed or trained to fully benefit from a labor intensive program like SMS.
Our team developed customized collaborative management programs that included continuous safety training, internal evaluation protocols, annual safety performance assessments, data collection and analysis, while documenting every aspect of the program for a fraction of the cost of an internal effort.
This program was designed for small to medium sized flight departments who want to benefit from an effective SMS, but have neither the staff, training or the time to do the level of work required. The SAFE program delivers the following:
We generate various documentation and reports that ensures your SMS is effective and benefiting your operation, including:
Thanks to technology, smart phones, video conferencing, this program is the equivalent of having full-time SMS manager on your staff without the cost or headache of adding personnel.
For airports and part 135 operators looking to establish their SMS framework quickly to minimize operational disruption and distraction, we can provide the following deliverables, which include:
Those processes requires 125 to 150 hours to complete and gets you to level 2 of the FAA's SMS maturity ladder quickly. Once trained and your reporting protocols are in place, you are officially at the starting line, where the real work begins.
As part of this program, you will have 12-months of our SAFE program plus a year of our Safety Officer Bulletin service, which will ensure your SMS meets the standard, and is on track and performing well.
The FAA estimates it can take most operators up to 36 months to fully integrate their new SMS into their culture, but with our continuous support and guidance, you'll start to see benefits from your program almost immediately. Being in the SAFE program for one year will provide you with the expertise you'll need to start managing your program in house should you choose to do that.
You will also have the option to stay in the SAFE program at a reduced cost. About 90% of our customers renew each year, which tells us it works.
One of the most important components of your SMS is Safety Promotion, which keeps the focus where it belongs, on training and hazard awareness.
Using our weekly Safety Officer Bulletin service takes the burden of creating interesting, timely and concise safety training material off your plate and is the most cost effective way we know of to chip away at complacency.
One subscription covers your entire operation, no matter how many employees you have.
This service will also update your existing SMS manuals or provide them if you're just starting out.
You will also have access to our FRAT/FOQA program where we provide you the digital form that you complete and send to us via your smart phone or ipad/computer for analysis and documentation.
As with all of our programs, we are always available to assist you, answer your questions and provide any level of support you require.
The single most important thing you need to achieve an effective SMS is a deep understanding of how SMS works.
The SMS standard is complicated and confusing for a reason, it was written by the "standards" industry, who gives new meaning to the phrase, attention to detail.
For the vast majority of operators with staffing constraints, that complexity leads to low participation, underutilized and ineffective data collection and analysis, which ultimately results in a failed SMS.
The solution to that risks ? Drastically simplify your SMS. How exactly do you do that? For starters, use your smart phone as your primary reporting tool. Next, train your team to know what is reportable and what their responsibilities are. After that, your SMS manager needs some specialized training. Those are the top three things you can do today that will increase the performance of your SMS.
There are dozens more.
For nearly two decades, we've been building, training and managing SMS programs and know first hand what works and what doesn't.
Our focus has always been to provide initial and recurrent SMS training for our customers that makes the difference between achieving an effective SMS or a failed ticking time bomb.
Some operators will have the staff and experience to self-implement the SMS, which can take up to 1380 labor hours according to FAA estimates. A more realistic number is 500 to 600 hours with our guidance.
SMS project management has a steep learning curve, one that can largely be avoided with the right guidance.
The good news is, the guidance material is free and available online. The bad news is, it is easily mis-interpreted leading to errors, omissions and ultimately to disappointing results.
This project management option will get your SMS framework up and running within five days. Our PM methodology takes you step by step through the complex process of SMS implementation, in partnership with you onsite, then provides you a full year of our SAFE program, which will show you how to manage your program. (Most of our clients stay in the SAFE program post implementation).
With 20 years of SMS experience, our team can assist you plan, implement and manage your SMS to achieve the goals of the program.