Safety management system is a term used to refer to a comprehensive business
management system designed to manage safety elements in the workplace.
Description An SMS provides a systematic way to
identify hazards and control risks while maintaining assurance that these risk
controls are effective. SMS can be defined as:
...a businesslike approach to safety. It is a systematic, explicit and
comprehensive process for managing safety risks. As with all management
systems, a safety management system provides for goal setting, planning, and
measuring performance. A safety management system is woven into the
fabric of an organization. It becomes part of the culture, the way people do
their jobs. For the purposes of defining safety
management, safety can be defined as: ... the reduction of risk to a level
that is as low as is reasonably practicable.
There are three imperatives for adopting a safety management system for a
business – these are ethical, legal and financial.
There is an implied moral obligation placed on an employer to ensure that
work activities and the place of work to be safe, there are legislative
requirements defined in just about every jurisdiction on how this is to be
achieved and there is a substantial body of research which shows that effective
safety management can reduce the financial exposure of an organisation by
reducing direct and indirect costs associated with accident and incidents.
To address these three important elements, an effective SMS should:
Define how the organisation is set up to manage risk.
Identify workplace risk and implement suitable controls.
Implement effective communications across all levels of the organisation.
Implement a process to identify and correct non-conformities.
Implement a continual improvement process.
A safety management system can be created to fit any business type and/or
industry sector. Basic safety-management components
= International Labour Organization SMS model =
Since there are many models to choose from to outline the basic components of
a safety management system, the one chosen here is the international
standard promoted by the International Labour Organization. In the ILO document
ILO-OSH 2001 Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems,
the safety management basic components are:
Policy Organizing
Planning and implementation Evaluation
Action for improvement Although other SMS models use different
terminology, the process and workflow for safety management systems are
usually similar; Policy – Establish within policy
statements what the requirements are for the organization in terms of resources,
defining management commitment and defining OSH targets
Organizing – How is the organization structured, where are responsibilities
and accountabilities defined, who reports to who and who is responsible
for what. Planning and Implementation – What
legislation and standards apply to our organization, what OSH objectives are
defined and how are these reviews, hazard prevention and the assessment and
management of risk. Evaluation – How is OSH performance
measured and assessed, what are the processes for the reporting of accidents
and incidents and for the investigation of accidents and what internal and
external audit processes are in place to review the system.
Action for Improvement – How are preventative and corrective actions
managed and what processes are in place to ensure the continual improvement
process. There is a significant amount of detail within each of these sections
and these should be examined in detail from the ILO-OSH Guidelines document.
= Safety Stack | Safety Management System Framework Project Model =
Since most of the SMS solutions in the U.S. are specifically designed for the
aviation industry; non-aviation independent projects are underway such
as The Safety Stack | Safety Management System Framework Project, which was
developed originally as an open source project that aids small businesses and
organizations establish a base SMS framework. Frameworks such as this are
designed to improve the way practitioners manage occupational safety
& health and assist in complying with ever increasing safety & health
regulatory standards. The Safety Stack SMS "Framework" is composed of the
following key elements: Safety Administration
Safety Policy, Programs, Procedures Manual
Safety Orientation Safety Training
Safety Meetings Safety Inspections
Safety Incidents Safety Standards
Safety Handbook Safety Miscellaneous
Non-aviation industry organizations in the U.S. find this open source, general
purpose, SMS framework highly useful in the development of their own unique
safety management systems since it can be downloaded, edited, extended & used
freely. Regulatory perspective
= Implications = A SMS is intended to act as a framework
to allow an organisation, as a minimum, to meet its legal obligations under
occupational safety and health law. The structure of a SMS is generally
speaking, not of itself a legal requirement but it is an extremely
effective tool to organise the myriad aspects of occupational safety and
health that can exist within an organisation, often to meet standards
which exceed the minimum legal requirement.
A SMS is only as good as its implementation – effective safety
management means that organisations need to ensure they are looking at all the
risks within the organization as a single system, rather than having
multiple, competing, ‘Safety Management Silos.’ If safety is not seen
holistically, it can interfere with the prioritization of improvements or even
result in safety issues being missed. For example, after an explosion in March
2005 at BP's Texas City Refinery the investigation concluded that the company
had put too much emphasis on personal safety thus ignoring the safety of their
processes. The antidote to such silo thinking is the proper evaluation of all
risks, a key aspect of an effective SMS. Implementation
= Adoption for industry sectors = There are a number of industry sectors
worldwide which have recognised the benefits of effective safety management.
The regulatory authorities for these industries have developed safety
management systems specific to their own industries and requirements, often
backed up by regulation. Below are examples from different industry sectors
from a number of varied worldwide locations.
Civil aviation The International Civil Aviation
Organization has recommended that all aviation authorities implement SMS
regulatory structures. ICAO has provided resources to assist with implementation,
including the ICAO Safety Management Manual. Unlike the traditional
occupational safety focus of SMS, the ICAO focus is to use SMS for managing
aviation safety. Id. The ICAO High-level Safety Conference
2010 recommendation 2/5 proposed the development of a new Annex dedicated to
Safety Management. The Annex was published in February 2013 and entered
into force on November 14, 2013. The benefits identified of this approach
included: Address safety risks proactively;
Manage and support strategic regulatory and infrastructure developments;
Re-enforce the role played by the State in managing safety at the State level,
in coordination with service providers; Stress the concept of overall safety
performance in all domains. The United States has introduced SMS for
airports through an advisory circular and other guidance.
The United States announced at the 2008 EASATC International Safety Conference
that they would be developing regulations to implement SMS for repair
stations, air carriers, and manufacturers. The FAA formed a
rulemaking committee to address the implementation. The SMS ARC reported its
findings to the FAA on March 31, 2010. The Report recognizes that many of the
elements of SMS already exist in the U.S. regulations, but that some elements
do not yet exist. A draft of what the US SMS rule might look like was proposed by
one trade association that participated in the ARC. Currently, the FAA is
supporting voluntary pilot projects for SMS.
The Federal Aviation Administration has also required that all FAA services and
offices adopt a common Aviation SafetySafety Management System. This is
what ICAO calls a State Safety Program. An overview of the FAA approach to SMS
may be found in the following PDF document.
The Federal Aviation Administration published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking for the establishment of SMS for air carriers. That NPRM explains
that it is intended to serve as the foundation for rules that would later be
applied to Part 135 operators, Part 145 repair stations and Part 21
manufacturers. Id. Several U.S. trade associations filed comments in response
to the air carrier NPRM, including the Aviation Suppliers Association comments
in response to the SMS NPRM. and the Modification and Replacement Parts
Association Among these comments were arguments for developing separate SMS
regulations for other certificate holders, in order to make sure that SM
remains a usable tool for advancing safety. In addition, the Federal
Aviation Administration has also filed a NPRM for SMS for airports, which would
be separate from the rules for SMS for air carriers.
The European Aviation Safety Agency began the process of implementing Safety
Management System regulations by issuing Terms of Reference on July 18, 2011.
That was followed by a Notice of Proposed Amendment issued on January 21,
2013. The proposed EASA regulation would apply to repair stations, but would have
significant ancillary effects on other aviation industry sub-sectors.
Maritime industry The International Maritime Organization
is another organization that has adopted SMS. All international passenger ships
and oil tankers, chemical tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers and cargo ships
of 500 gross tons or more are required to have a Safety Management System. In
the preamble to the International Safety Management Code, the IMO states, “The
cornerstone of good safety management is commitment from the top. In matters of
safety and pollution prevention it is the commitment, competence, attitudes
and motivation of individuals at all levels that determines the end result.”
Railway industry Transport Canada’s Rail Safety
Directorate incorporated SMS into the rail industry in 2001. The Rail Safety
Management System requirements are set out in the Railway Safety Management
System Regulations. The objectives of the Rail Safety Management System
Regulations are to ensure that safety is given management time and corporate
resources and that it is subject to performance measurement and monitoring
on par with corporate financial and production goals.
The effect of SMS in the rail industry has not been positive, as a 2006 Toronto
Star review of Transportation Safety Board data indicated that rail accidents
were soaring. Critics have argued that this evidence should preclude the
adoption of SMS in the aviation sector. However, Transportation Safety Board
data show that the accident rate in the rail industry has actually varied around
the average over that 10-year period. Since the Toronto Star article was
published, the accident rate has decreased. The Transportation Safety
Board reported that “a total of 1,143 rail accidents were reported to the TSB
in 2008, a 14% decrease from the 2007 total of 1,323 and an 18% decrease from
the 2003–2007 average of 1,387” and also noted that, in 2008, rail incidents
reported under the TSB mandatory reporting requirements reached a 26-year
low of 215. See also
Civil Aviation International Civil Aviation
Organization Safety
Transport Canada References