Leveraging Technology in Compliance Programs
Early in my aviation career, legislation came into effect which required all certified Canadian airports to implement a Safety Management System (SMS). As part of developing my airport’s SMS, it was important to determine how records relating to activities identified in the Airport Operations Manual were being maintained and stored. Before long, I was overrun with boxes of paper inspection records. As I began to sift through the piles of paper, I discovered that records were missing, staff were uncertain about what a checkmark meant as opposed to an X, and there was a lack of verification and accountability. Not only were the paper records difficult to review, it was almost impossible to gain insight so that action could be taken to improve safety.
It became apparent that paper records were not going to be an effective means of demonstrating compliance. A system was needed whereby activities could be recorded, communicated to the responsible manager(s), stored for easy search and audited for compliance with the SMS and regulations.
Options that were explored included using Microsoft Excel or Access, multiple solutions or a single integrated system. Each alternative had varying costs, benefits and degrees of attention required by staff. Some choices were ready to go “off the shelf” or had varying degrees of customizability. Others had issues which were showstoppers, such as the excessive costs of complex integrated systems which, while powerful and proven, were too costly for the budget of a regional airport.
Ultimately a web service was selected which allowed highly customized forms to be deployed to staff on mobile devices, notifications sent to management and data stored in a location that satisfied corporate risk and could be searched and exported for analysis. The forms were simple, intuitive and allowed inspections to be recorded within defined parameters. This helped staff to be comfortable using the technology, thereby contributing to increased compliance.
Someone once told me, “If you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport.” They are not all alike, and what works at one airport may not work at another. There can be many approaches to Safety Management Systems and Airport Operations, however the end goals of operational safety and regulatory compliance are always the same.
When considering technology to support compliance at your airport, keep the following in mind:
Tools are only beneficial if they are used, used correctly, and monitored or audited for compliance. Make sure the tools and use thereof are included in your Quality Assurance programme.
The tools are only of value if useful output can be obtained - to identify trends or drive decision-making including safety improvement.
Keep the number of tools to a minimum. Too many tools may result in reduced effectiveness as attention is divided, inhibiting buy-in from staff. Multiple tools may also result in an excessive administrative burden.
Tools that are intuitive and require minimal training may result in improved adoption by staff, thus producing more accurate data.
Currie Russell, A.A.E.