Quality Auditing of EASA Compliant Aviation Safety Management Systems
Steve Bentley CEO of Sofema (www.sassofia.com) looks at the challenges and obligations related to the auditing of SMS systems.
SMS is a business system just like any other, so as part of our Compliance Auditing obligations we will be looking at the following elements as suitable for our auditing activities.
a) Management
b) Documentation
c) Competence
d) Training
What Does SMS Look at?
Essentially the focus of SMS is not in fact compliance it is on Managing Risk and the Purpose of an SMS Audit is to consider Risk. So Safety management goes far beyond traditional compliance led approaches to auditing.
The SMS approach was developed following the identification of shortfalls in the actual process of auditing – you can only identify a discrepancy during a Quality Audit when you have evidence.
What is a Safety Audit?
So a Safety Management System “Audit” aims to identify potential safety risks and Hazards.
At the heart of any effective Safety Management System is a formal Risk Management process that identifies hazards and assesses and mitigates risk.
The next step is to mitigate or manage any risks identified to an acceptable or tolerable level. An essential aspect being the management of risk generated by Contract or Sub Contracted organization particularly where this may directly impact the organization.
Let’s do some Myth Busting!
a) SMS is just an extension of the Quality System?
Answer – It's not! – Safety Auditing Is very different in fact Safety Auditing is almost holistic in that it is looking at the potential exposures, faced by the Organisational system.
b) SMS is owned by the SAFETY Manager?
Answer – It's not! – The SMS System is owned by the Accountable Manager but each Post Holder is responsible for the effective delivery of the SMS within their business area. Sometimes called a Top Down Approach.
Additional Key Elements of an effective SMS – Which can be subjected to Compliance Audit
(a) Safety Policy and Objectives
(b) Safety Risk Management
(c) Safety Assurance
(d) Safety Promotion
Each of the above elements is critically important and all must be visible and active within the SMS System.
Key Personnel in an effective SMS
Whist the individual business owners are responsible for safety management an SMS champion is essential for the health of the SMS system. (This person may be the Safety Manager or he may be the Quality manager or another person, the important point is to ensure effective management of the entire process.)
Final Note regarding Compliance Auditing
Any audit subject must be refenced against a documented audit criteria (or standard). Compliance Audits are in fact prescriptive – means essentially they are acceptable or not-acceptable (non conformity).
Sofema Aviation Services www.sassofia.com and our online training partner www.sofemaonline.com offer multiple Quality Audit and SMS related Training Courses
Please email office@sassofia.com or online@sassofia.com for additional details or to register for individual or group training.
