Safety management systems-new wine, old skins

This paper presents safety management systems (SMS) in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). While safety is always a primary concern at the FAA, SMS formalizes the safety risk management policies at the Administration and introduces a plan to strengthen the safety culture and safety training of its employees. Changes in the current system, either new introductions of technology or enhancements of current operations, will be subject to a strict safety risk assessment methodology. Risks will be identified, prioritized, and then mitigated. Data will be collected and monitored to ensure the system maintains or improves the level of safety before the change. The six part safety risk management system coupled with continuous monitoring will strengthen the existing new system development process and bring a formalized process to the operations and maintenance procedures. It will truly bring new wine into old skins.