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Safety Management Systems
For operators and service providers, standards for safety management systems are set out in the annexes to the Chicago Convention:
A safety management system is an organised approach to managing safety, including the necessary organisational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures.
The purpose of a safety management system is to make continuous improvement to the overall level of safety.
Safety management systems are already required under ICAO Annex 11 and 14, for air traffic services and aerodromes. In Annex 6, the operation of aircraft, the SMS standards come into effect on 1 January 2009 for commercial air transport operations.
For the UK Overseas Territories these ICAO standards have been implemented in the Overseas Territories Aviation Requirements (OTARs).
There are two Overseas Territories Aviation Circulars (OTACs) on SMS:
'Safety Management Systems' provides advice and guidance on the meaning of the requirements contained in the OTARs and suggests some steps towards effective implementation.
'Documenting the SMS' gives suggestions for manuals, and examples of policy statements, objectives, forms and methods to consider.