The Regulatory Framework for Safety Management Systems in Airworthiness Organisations

In recent years, a growing emphasis on safety has driven various industries, both in manufacturing and service, to implement a Safety Management System (SMS) in their organisations. SMSs have also been widely implemented in aviation due to both regulatory requirements and voluntary implementation with the aim of decreasing incidents and accidents whilst reducing inefficiencies and costs stemming from the repercussions of safety failures. The aviation industry involves various players for the provision of services ranging from airline operations, maintenance, aerodrome operations, air traffic services, aircraft and component design, manufacturing, and training. Not all organisations in the aviation industry have implemented SMSs. Furthermore, SMS is currently not regulated for all aviation organisations. Whilst technology has played a key role in driving down the number of accidents and incidents in aviation, the growth in air traffic demands having programs in place to further drive down accident rates. In this context, this article provides an investigation to the regulatory framework for the implementation of SMSs in aviation, including the requirements stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the status of SMS regulation of key National Aviation Authorities (NAA) and Military Aviation Authorities (MAA), with a focus on organisations involved in airworthiness including initial and continuing airworthiness. This article also investigates the challenges of implementing SMSs in organisations involved in Airworthiness, as well as the benefits that could be gained by service providers as well as NAA's or MAA's through SMSs.