Introduction

Effective safety reporting of hazards by operational personnel is an important cornerstone of the management of safety. Therefore, an operational environment in which operational personnel have been trained and are constantly encouraged to report hazards is the prerequisite for effective safety reporting.

The ICAO requirements require that aviation service providers develop and maintain, within the scope of their SMS, a formal process for collecting, recording, acting on, and generating feedback about hazards in operations. The process shall be based on a combination of reactive, proactive, and predictive methods of safety data collection. 

Best Practice Considerations

Consider the following as best practice objectives regarding the delivery of an optimized and effective Safety Management System.

1. The reporting processes should ensure the effective capture of internal Safety Management System information. This process should include all relevant identified exposures including incidents, accidents, and other data relevant to SMS.
2.  The system should promote voluntary reporting of observed occurrences or deficiencies.
3. Reactive Reports should be reviewed at the appropriate level by the relevant management team.
4. The reactive reporting system should be simple, accessible, and commensurate with the size of the organization.
5. There is a feedback process to notify contributors that their reports have been received and to share the results of the analysis. (This is a key driver of an effective Safety Management System)
6. There should be a process in place to monitor and analyze all available information to identify any trends.
7. Corrective and preventive actions should be introduced to mitigate exposures and to respond to event analysis.
8. The organization should have a process in place to ensure confidentiality to include voluntary reporting systems.
9. An Internal communication system is required to ensure adequate sharing of knowledge including an understanding of the range and scope of safety-related occurrences or deficiencies that must be reported, explained & defined. There should be a process to ensure that information is received from all areas of the organization within the scope of the SMS.
10. There should be a process to ensure that all information contained within the reports is validated for accuracy before analysis.
11. Personnel who are engaged in the reporting process should be empowered and encouraged to suggest corrective actions.
12. The reactive report forms should be simple, standardized, and accessible across the organization.
13. There should be a data collection process throughout the safety critical areas of the company to permit companywide analysis of safety issues.

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