Saety Officer SMS AR/GUS What does it mean to you

[pilothouston123]

Safety Officer SMS AR/GUS What does it mean to you

I took on the roll of safety officer when asked a few months ago. Its not all that bad of a gig. We have had a few sucesses and finds that are easy fixes.

What kind of stuff would you pilots like to see that would help you get interested in contributing to hazard reporting.

What kind of safety promotions have you seen that work.

Thanks

 

[IBNAV8R]

Haven't seen ANY incentives around the airline industry for encouraging hazard reporting - except when the person(s) involved want(s) a get-out-of-jail-free card (ASRS or ASAP). Sad.

Coffee cups, lottery/raffle tickets, etc., make nice, low-cost rewards for safety contributions, suggestions and hazard reporting. Definitely a good investment if it prevents even a minor "aw-s**t".

 

[pilotyip]

Has anyone set up a SMS at their company?

 

[skiddriver]

Pilotyip,

Part of my job is helping our contractors either establish or upgrade their SMS to our standards. We have 25 contarctors with varying degrees of completion, plus our own aviation SMS that bridges to the contractors.

Do have any specific questions?

 

[gulfstream2345]

Yes I have set up a SMS for a company. Can I help you?

 

[belchfire]

First of all the Safety Officer must only be accountable to-but not under the direction of-any other management. He needs to be able to and have the will to do the job regardless of any potential cost.

I've seen only one really good safety officer. All the rest ranged from poor to fair.

The good one was able to prove to an engine manufacturer that a new bull gear design was indeed the cause of a rash of Garret engine failures and have our engines retrofitted with the old style bull gears. He researched Mean time between failures, found out when the design change took place, typically how long the new gears were going and took the fight to management and Honeywell. He also would stand behind the pilots (the only one in fact) when lines were written that while perhaps legal but not smart with regard to fatigue.

Sadly, as a highly paid professional he was replaced as a cost cutting measure by someone on FO pay...

The worst of them leaned on the side of a hanger and chain smoked...he might eventually get back to one guy if three, five or ten made a complaint about the same issue...after a suitable amount of time to work up the courage to deal with a pilot and management on the same day-but only if he could work out a couple of smoke breaks in between.

 

[JAFI]

I gave a Safety System briefing to a couple dozen operators a while back. The FAA required positions attended with some of their staff. I found one comment common to all the operaters attending:

The Dir of Maint. - How much will this cost? (then walk away)

The Dir of Ops - Is this regulatory? (then walk away)

The Dir of Safety - I need a copy of everything you got, I have been trying to sell this to my company and am getting no where.

You have an up hill battle on a steep slope. Good Luck.