I say that SMS is nothing more than putting a system in place to sweat the small stuff, so you never need to sweat the big stuff.
I believe that an SMS would have saved Stella from
years of misery. With powerful lawyers on their side, I suspect that settlement was likely appealed until she died or at least ended up being a lot less than the original award. Now, the airline with the loose track cover likely had
a form of SMS in place and my wife’s incident was very likely not the first. I base that on the quick response and the action taken to eliminate the hazard. All too often we need more than one “poke-reminder” before we react to a hazard. At least they likely had a system in place to do a risk analysis of the potential hazard and likely determined that the cost to eliminate the hazard was minimal. Persons who know about the hazards, according to the earlier study, indicated that the supervisors being close to the “worker bees” knew 74%. Middle management’s knowledge dropped to a whopping 9%, while the man with the money at the top was aware of only 4%. An SMS requires him to put a system in place so that he can no longer say “I didn’t know” after an accident occurs. I’d like to devote the next few articles into what can make for a successful SMS that ensures that the small stuff does not become big stuff. Can you say that yours is doing that? If not sure, stay tuned.
Gordon Dupont worked as a special programs coordinator for Transport Canada from March 1993 to August 1999.
He was responsible for coordinating with the aviation industry in the development of programs that would serve to reduce maintenance error. He assisted in the development of Human Performance in Maintenance (HPIM) Parts 1 and 2. The “Dirty Dozen” maintenance Safety posters were an outcome of HPIM Part 1.
Prior to working for Transport, Dupont worked for seven years as a technical
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investigator for the Canadian Aviation Safety Board (later to become the Canadian Transportation Safety Board). He saw firsthand the tragic results of maintenance and human error.
Dupont has been an aircraft maintenance engineer and commercial pilot in Canada, the United States and Australia. He is the founding member and past president of the Pacific Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Association. He is a founding member and a board member of the Maintenance and Ramp Safety Society (MARSS).
Dupont, who is often called “The Father of the Dirty Dozen,” has provided human factors training around the world. He retired from Transport Canada in 1999 and is now a private consultant. He is interested in any work that will serve to make the industry safer. Visit
www.system-safety.com for more information.
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