What is the definition of a Safety Management System (SMS)?

As per ICAO, it is a formal, systematic approach to managing safety risk. FAA defines SMS as the formal, top-down, organization-wide approach to managing safety risk and assuring the effectiveness of safety risk controls. It includes systematic procedures, practices, and policies for the management of safety risk.

Considering the above, is having a safety reporting system sufficient for the implementation of SMS?

No, it is a component to SMS, but it is not the only component to SMS. When a Safety Report is submitted and investigated, the incident has already occurred, the operator is then focused on reactively managing its risk.

A key aspect of SMS is the proactive approach to risk management, which focuses on:

• Identifying and preventing potential hazards before they occur
• Risk-Based decisions
• Continuous improvement of Safety Performance

Herbert W Heinrich stated in his 1931 book “Industrial Accident Prevention, A Scientific Approach”, that ‘in a workplace, for every accident that causes a major injury, there are 29 accidents that cause minor injuries and 300 accidents that cause no injuries.’ This is depicted in the Heinrich pyramid as below, this concludes that minimizing incidents could lead to a reduction in accidents, by proactively controlling and managing hazards that are pre cursors to accidents.