E&M in action

SMS: Voluntary now, mandatory from December

SMS is short for Safety Management System, which outlines responsibilities, identifies and minimizes safety risks within the company as much as possible, conducts audits, provides employees with appropriate training, and facilitates communication about safety. From 2 December 2024, EASA will require all Part 145 and Part 21-certified companies in Europe to have an SMS. This also includes KLM E&M. What does this mean for employees and managers?

Years ago, E&M already introduced SMS on a voluntary basis. However, it will all be mandatory from 2 December. This specifically means that everyone within the SMS has a role and certain obligations. This includes:

  • Work safely and make sure colleagues do too. You do this by adhering to the rules, procedures and instructions. In doing so, we comply with legislation, but also lay the foundation for safe working. All this applies to technical topics as well as non-technical topics (such as good housekeeping, environment and personal safety);
  • If you see an unsafe situation, or if you have doubts, report it. Discuss it with the colleagues involved and your manager and write an occurrence. It’s the only way we can learn from it through research and take measures to reduce risks;
  • In addition, we ask managers to monitor that the team works safely and in accordance with the rules and procedures. This always takes precedence over productivity!

When we talk about working safely, we mean safety in multiple domains such as occupational safety, environmental safety, and of course, operational safety. We need to work safely in the sense that no personal accidents occur, no harm is done to the environment, and we must always follow the correct procedures from the manufacturers so that aircraft can fly safely after maintenance. This applies to the maintenance of aircraft, but also, of course, to components and engines.

Learning from incidents The obligation to adhere to rules, procedures and instructions stems from the obligation to work safely and to ensure that your colleagues do the same. The manuals and instructions are the basis for this. If you adhere to this, you will automatically be working as safely as possible. Reporting unsafe situations is at the heart of the SMS. Because only when they are known can we learn from them. Incidents and risks are identified and discussed within the Safety Action Groups (SAG). A SAG decides whether and which measures are necessary, and what an acceptable residual risk is. The lessons learned are fed back through communication, training and/or adapted procedures.

The right training for everyone

The SMS follows a systematic approach to policy, training and procedures, and consists of four pillars:

1. Safety policy: A description of the policy and responsibilities;

2. Safety risk management: Identifying and mitigating (limiting) risks;

3. Safety assurance: Monitoring safety and conducting audits;

4. Safety promotion: Training and safety communication.

As part of this, everyone will, depending on your role, get appropriate SMS training on what SMS is and what everyone’s role in it is. The SMS applies to everyone who works at E&M. Everyone has a role and certain obligations within this, as described above. In this way, we will collectively make E&M an increasingly safer place to work.

Several articles about the SMS will be published in the E&M Scope in the coming period.