Safety management systems (SMS) have been implemented in helicopter operations for several years.
Although safety management has been part of managing aviation operations ever since the industry took off, SMS have brought about a more structured approach to capture safety hazards and assess their possible consequences and impact on operations.
Much of the success of SMS implementation depends on line employees being enabled by company management to make reports on all sorts of safety events, including incidents and potentially unsafe conditions in the workplace. After several years of SMS implementation, the time has come to assess where the helicopter operations industry stands in terms of safety reporting practices.
