Safety Management System
The Safety Management System (SMS) is described:
- by ICAO as - “A system for the management of safety at aerodromes, including the organizational structure, responsibilities, procedures, processes and provisions for the implementation of aerodrome safety policies by an aerodrome operator, which provides for control of safety at, and the safe use of, the aerodrome.”
- by ENAC as - “Un sistema idoneo a garantire che le operazioni aeroportuali si svolgano nelle condizioni di sicurezza prefissate e a valutare al contempo l’efficacia del sistema stesso al fine di intervenire per correggerne le eventuali deviazioni.”
Main goal of the SMS is to prevent accidents, and this can be achieved by identifying, evaluating, eliminating or being in control of the so-called safety-related hazards reaching levels considered acceptable and under control.
The Safety Management System is outlined as a system able to guarantee that airport operations are carried out following protocol procedures and at the same time evaluate the efficiency of the system itself in order to act, if necessary, with adequate corrective/preventive actions.
The SMS deals with Safety, and in particular with operative Safety, meant as safety of the operations directly or indirectly involving the airplanes operations and, more generally, airside airport operations.
Since the SMS affects every activity concerning the airport safety, every private and public airport subject is expected to cooperate with the safety programmes, immediately reporting to the Management any accident, mishap, incident or event that has or might have jeopardised the safety of the operations, and to provide the Management, during an SMS investigation, with all the necessary documentation and information to identify its causes.
The goal of the SMS, as it refers to the 'airport-system' as a whole, is that of actively cooperating with all public and private subjects focusing on the safety.
The goals and the activities of the SMS can easily be summed up in the diagram as follows:
