National Academies Press: OpenBook

Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook (2009)

Chapter: Chapter 1 - Introduction

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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14316.
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Page 2
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14316.
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Page 2
Page 3
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14316.
×
Page 3
Page 4
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14316.
×
Page 4
Page 5
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14316.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14316.
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1.1 Objective This document is designed to assist 14 CFR Part 139 airport operators with the development and implementation of safety management systems (SMS) for their airports. The information pro- vided is not intended as a prescriptive formula for the development of an airport’s SMS, nor is it a procedure or template for building SMS documentation. It is a practical reference to provide objective guidance on how to develop SMS processes and create the system. The material contained herein is for explanatory purposes only. Where existing systems or pil- lars have been referenced, the example is used for the purpose of clarity and to demonstrate that there are existing systems available. It is not the intention of the authors to advocate that any one particular system be used. In keeping with performance-based regulations, this guidebook is intended to provide details of the various SMS requirements and to offer examples of possible ways these elements can be enabled. It is assumed that the user has a basic understanding of SMS and Part 139 requirements and is familiar with the following: • Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5200-37—Introduction to Safety Management Systems for Airport Operators(1) • ACRP Report 1: Overview of Safety Management Systems for Airports(2) • International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Doc 9859—Safety Management Manual (SMM)(3) 1.2 How to Use This Guidebook Implementing an SMS will require a phased approach, with each phase building on previous steps. This guidebook is organized chronologically according to those phases. Chapter 1 provides some definitions and acronyms used throughout the text. Chapter 2 helps the reader identify some basic SMS concepts, pillars and elements of an airport SMS, and how these building blocks work and interact to improve the safety culture and, ultimately, the overall safety of airport activ- ities. Moreover, this chapter responds to some basic questions that airport operators face before developing an SMS program. Chapter 3 will help you get started with SMS. The objective of this chapter is to help you plan and design your airport SMS, from identifying the resources that are already in place to choos- ing the best SMS architecture for the airport. This section will help you identify and conduct each step of the SMS planning and design. 1 C H A P T E R 1 Introduction

Chapter 4 is intended to guide airport management through the initial transition to SMS. This chapter will introduce you to best practices and the steps needed to implement your SMS. You will learn how to document and develop a structured implementation plan to gradually bring your SMS to operation. Chapter 5 describes the five phases of safety risk management (SRM), which is the key process behind safety management. This chapter also presents a step-by-step example of the process using typical airport hazards. Chapter 6 contains information to help you operate your SMS. It describes the tools, approaches, procedures, techniques, and methods that support the operation of an airport SMS. The annexes provide additional support materials. For example, the gap analysis and SMS assessment tables are included in Annex A(1),(3),(4). Each chapter includes some common elements to help the reader understand important con- cepts or to highlight specific issues: 2 Safety Management Systems for Airports Example Illustrative example to help understand the concept Scalability Depends on the size and complexity of the airport Hint Practical suggestion and useful approach Caution Potential bottlenecks and practical ways to overcome them Key Important point for consideration, sometimes in the form of a citation It is recommended that readers follow the order that the subjects are presented in this guide- book, as it intentionally follows the SMS structure described in the FAA AC 150/5200-37(1).

1.3 Definitions The following terms are used throughout this report: Accident: An unplanned event or series of events resulting in death, injury, or damage to, or loss of, equipment or property. Audit: Formal reviews and verifications to evaluate conformity with policy, standards, and contractual requirements. — Internal Audit: An audit conducted by, or on behalf of, the organization being audited. — External Audit: An audit conducted by an entity outside the organization being audited. Beliefs: The conviction (real or perceived) that certain facts and/or actions will entail specific consequences; how people think things work. An example is the belief, “I will not get penalized if I delay the job for safety reasons.” There are beliefs that promote a strong safety culture and others that undermine it. Introduction 3 Beliefs that may promote or undermine safety Promote Undermine • My supervisor is really committed to safety • Most accidents are caused by human factors • Incidents are valuable learning experiences and should be reported • Sometimes it is necessary to take chances to get a job done • Sometimes it is necessary to turn a blind eye when safety rules are broken • My manager says “safety first” but doesn’t really mean it Consequence: Potential outcome(s) of a hazard. Corrective Action: Action to eliminate or mitigate the cause or reduce the effects of a detected nonconformity or other undesirable situation. Culture: Workplace culture is the set of shared values and beliefs of people in an organization. Culture encourages certain behaviors and discourages others. Documentation: Information or meaningful data and supporting medium (e.g., paper, electronic). In this context, it is distinct from records because it is the written description of policies, processes, procedures, objectives, requirements, authorities, responsibilities, or work instructions. Errors: In the present context, an error is an “honest mistake” that is unintentional, not out of malicious intent, and not a result of gross negli- gence. There are legal definitions of the term “gross negligence,” but it is not the intent of this guide- book to debate this issue. Gap Analysis: Identification of existing safety pillars compared with SMS program require- ments. Gap analysis provides an airport operator an initial SMS development plan. Hazard: Any existing or potential condition that can lead to injury, illness, or death to peo- ple; damage to or loss of a system, equipment, or property; or damage to the environment. A hazard is a prerequisite to an accident or incident. “Human error is a symptom, not a cause.” (James Reason(5))

Incident: A near miss episode, malfunction, or failure without accident-level consequences that has a significant chance of resulting in accident-level consequences. Investigation: A process conducted for the purpose of accident prevention which includes the gathering and analysis of information, the drawing of conclusions, including the determination of causes and, when appropriate, the making of safety recommendations. Latent Conditions: existent conditions in the system that can be triggered by an event or a set of events(3) or “latent errors, whose adverse consequences may lie dormant within the system for a long time.”(4) Likelihood: The estimated probability or frequency, in quantitative or qualitative terms, of a hazard’s effect. Line Management: Management structure that operates the production/operational system. Near Miss: “Any event that could have had bad consequences, but did not.”(31) Nonconformity: Non-fulfillment of a requirement. This includes but is not limited to non- compliance with federal regulations. It also includes an organization’s requirements, policies, and procedures, as well as requirements of safety risk controls developed by the organization. Oversight: A function that ensures the effective promulgation and implementation of safety standards, requirements, regulations, and associated procedures. Safety oversight also ensures that the acceptable level of safety risk is not exceeded in the air transportation system. Procedure: A specified way to carry out an activity or a process. Process: A set of interrelated or interacting activities that transforms inputs into outputs. Proximate Cause: A cause that, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by new and independent causes, produces the injury. Records: Evidence of results achieved or activities performed. In this context, it is distinct from documentation because records are the documentation of SMS outputs. Risk Assessment: Assessment of the system or pillar to compare the achieved risk level with the tolerable risk level. Root Cause: A factor (event, condition, organizational) that contributed to or created the proximate cause and subsequent undesired outcome and, if eliminated or modified, would have prevented the undesired outcome. Typically, multiple root causes contribute to an undesired outcome. Safety: The state in which the risk of harm to persons or of property damage is reduced to, and maintained at or below, an acceptable level through a continuing process of hazard identi- fication and risk management. Safety Assessment: A systematic, comprehensive evaluation of an implemented system. Safety Assurance: SMS process management functions that systematically provide confidence that organizational products/services meet or exceed safety requirements. 4 Safety Management Systems for Airports A runway contaminated with ice is a hazard. The potential that the pilot may not be able to control the aircraft during the operation and veer off or overrun the runway, causing hull loss and multiple fatalities is the risk.

Safety Climate: The manifestation of safety culture in the behavior and expressed attitude of employees. Safety Culture: The product of individual and group values, attitudes, competencies, and pat- terns of behavior that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, the orga- nization’s management of safety. Organizations with a positive safety culture are characterized by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of safety, and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures. Safety Management System: The formal, top-down business-like approach to managing safety risk. It includes systematic procedures, practices, and policies for the management of safety (including safety risk management, safety policy, safety assurance, and safety promotion). Safety Objective: Safety goals or desired outcomes, which typically are measurable. Safety Performance Indicator: Any measurable parameter used to point out how well any activity related to safety is performing over time, and to assess the overall SMS health indirectly. Safety Policy: Defines the fundamental approach to managing safety that is to be adopted within an organization. Safety policy further defines the organization’s commitment to safety and overall safety vision. Safety Promotion: A combination of safety culture, training, and information sharing activ- ities that supports the implementation and operation of an SMS in an organization. Safety Risk: The composite of the likelihood (i.e., probability) of the potential effect of a haz- ard and predicted severity of that effect. As an example, an overshoot by an aircraft landing on an icy runway would be considered a safety risk of the hazard. The hazard is “icy runway,” and the risk is “an overshoot.” Safety Risk Control: Anything that mitigates the safety risk of a hazard. Safety risk controls necessary to mitigate an unacceptable risk should be mandatory, measurable, and monitored for effectiveness. Safety Risk Management: A formal process within the SMS composed of describing the sys- tem, identifying the hazards and assessing, analyzing, and controlling the risk. The SRM process is embedded in the operational system; it is not a separate process. Severity: The consequence or impact of a hazard in terms of degree of loss or harm. System: An integrated set of elements that are combined in an operational or support envi- ronment to accomplish a defined objective. These elements include people, hardware, software, firmware, information, procedures, facilities, services, and environment. Top Management: The person or group of people who direct and control an organization. This group is sometimes referred to as Senior Management. Unsafe Behavior: A behavior that is more likely to lead to incidents or accidents. An unsafe behavior may be unintentional or intentional. Introduction 5 In 2005, a ground baggage handler grazed an MD-83 aircraft with a tug while attempting to depart the vicinity of the airplane. The incident was triggered by improper operation (the unsafe behavior) and was not reported (an amplification factor also indicative of an unsafe behavior). The damage to the aircraft was substantial. The result was the aircraft’s in-flight depressurization. Post landing examination of the fuselage revealed a 12 by 6-inch hole on the right side of the airplane (source: NTSB SEA06LA033).

Values: Those principles, concepts, and ideas that people think are important. Safety is an example of a value. Worst Credible Condition: The most unfavorable conditions or combination of conditions that are reasonably expected to occur. 1.4 Abbreviations and Acronyms AC Advisory Circular ACM Airport Certification Manual ACRP Airport Cooperative Research Program AEP Airport Emergency Plan AIP Aeronautical Information Publication ALARP As Low As Reasonably Practicable AOA Airport Operations Area ARFF Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting ATC Air Traffic Control CEO Chief Executive Officer FAA Federal Aviation Administration FBO Fixed Base Operator FOD Foreign Object Damage or Foreign Object Debris FOIA Freedom of Information Act ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization ISO International Organization for Standardization NAS National Airspace System NAVAID Navigational Aid NOTAM Notice to Airmen NTSB National Transportation Safety Board OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration PDCA Plan-Do-Check-Act PCN Pavement Classification Number PPE Personal Protective Equipment SAT Systems Approach to Training SIDA Security Identification Display Areas SMGCS Surface Movement Guidance and Control System SMM Safety Management Manual SMS Safety Management System SOP Standard Operating Procedure SPI Safety Performance Indicator SRM Safety Risk Management 6 Safety Management Systems for Airports

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Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook Get This Book
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TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 1: Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook explores what constitutes an airport safety management system (SMS). The report examines SMS components and their interactions, and offers guidance in the planning, implementation, and operation of an airport SMS. It also provides detailed information on how to carry out each of the necessary SMS processes.

This guidebook supplements ACRP Report 1: Volume 1, which provides an overview of SMS and explains how a systems approach to safety management can benefit both the safety and business aspects of airports.

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/acrp/acrp_rpt_001a.pdf

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