New Authority Workflow in Aviation Safety Management Software

March 7, 2013 - PRLog -- Chain of command in risk management indicates that there is only one person ultimately responsible for airline and airport accidents, incidents and irregularities. Often an issue needs to be managed by two divisions or departments independently. New workflow rules in SMS Pro's aviation safety management software ensure that chain of command principles remain intact.

Aviation safety management systems establish procedures to ensure that aviation safety continues to improve in the transportation sector. SMS Pro is a popular, Web based aviation safety management software used by airlines and airports around the world. http://www.asms-pro.com

Responsibility of Aviation Safety Management Reports
When airline/airport employees report accidents, incidents and irregularities, these issues normally belong to a single division. Within this division, a single department head manages corrective preventive actions (CPAs) relating to this issue. This manager is responsible for this issue. Only one manager is responsible for this issue to ensure there are no ambiguities as which person is ultimately responsible.

Occasionally, airline or airport incidents affect more than one division. For example, an intermittent hydraulic failure may affect both maintenance and flight ops divisions. In these cases, who is in charge of managing the issue? Flight ops or maintenance? In the past, SMS Pro managers simply created another issue and assigned the report to the other division. Each division then managed the reported issue within their own department. While this works, some detailed database artifacts may not be included in the duplicate report.

Branching Responsibility of Aviation Safety Management Reports
A new SMS Pro feature allows branching reported airline/airport incidents into two paths where each path maintains its own chain of authority. In the example above, flight ops would independently manage the issue according to their procedures. Likewise, maintenance would also manage the issue independently, including corrective preventive actions (CPAs), tracking, monitoring for safety assurance, etc. http://www.aviation-sms.com

NorthWest Data Solutions has been developing and supporting aviation safety management software since 2007.

About NWDS - founded in 2003 by six software engineers, NorthWest Data Solutions (NWDS) provides custom computer programming and systems design services. NWDS creates many types of software, including e-commerce, financial, defense, engineering, logistics, aviation and more. In 2007, NWDS developed SMS Pro™ a web based SMS application that supports an organization's overall SMS through safety reporting, safety documentation, safety risk management and safety assurance. SMS Pro™ is currently used by aviation organizations in the U.S., Canada, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East to help manage their SMS programs. NWDS continues to support SMS Pro™ and add new functionality. NWDS offers custom contract programming services in the U.S. and Canada and is managed by Chris Howell, one of the founders. Their headquarters is in Anchorage, Alaska. For information on NWDS visit their website at www.nwds-ak.com.