Who is best placed to answer this question? In fact the starting point should be – "What do we want our SMS to do for us?"
We often talk about the management of change and here we do not need to look any further than the implementation of an SMS as our first challenge.
As either a perfect opportunity to develop and optimize the organisation or alternatively as an organizational burden which requires specific actions to ensure compliance.
So in reality this question should be answered by the Accountable Manager and the Management Team. In fact once we answer the question then other decisions become easier and we can start to develop the structure of the SMS.
Please note it is a significant step backwards to jump into SMS implementation without really appreciating what your real goals are. So assume we have decided that we see the SMS as a real business opportunity to develop and optimize the organization.What should we do next?
1. To reduce our accident and incident rate on a continuous basis so that we see an improvement year on year 2. To identify latent exposures which can adversely impact us, and to develop mitigations before they become a problem
To ensure the best possible oversight, we need to make sure that our reporting processes within both our QMS & SMS are effective, to do this we need to ensure we have good reporting systems and effective data capture.
The Data gathered through internal and external audits together with other information will provide a sound indication for the management as to whether we are achieving our objectives.
Surveys can also provide a significant insight into the actual perception felt by the staff, and measure the effectiveness of the communications processes.
