SM4 Safety Articles & Resources

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mechanics checking aircraft

7 Questions to Help You Create Great Safety Objectives

Preventing problems is much more efficient and effective than addressing them after they occur. However, as Dan Heath points out in his book “Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Occur,” there are barriers to “upstream” thinking that must be overcome. This starts with organizations asking themselves seven key questions.

Posted on November 30, 2021
flying over mountatains

Aviation Mastery or Minimums… What’s Your Safety Standard?

In the realm of professional aviation, each of us carries a mantle of tremendous responsibility for the other souls with whom we share the airspace, our families and colleagues, our companies and employers and, of course, ourselves. The consequences of a serious misstep in our profession can have a finality that renders the statement, “I will do better next time” meaningless.

Posted on November 2, 2021
runner on track

Managing Fatigue with Quantitative Data

It may be November, but the clouds are clearing for air operators. People are flying again. Business meetings are being scheduled live. And the busy holiday season is coming up soon. Is your flight department ready?

Posted on November 2, 2021
pilot training

Redefining Pilot Skills?!

How does a pilot truly get better? What drives us to get better or what is the event that triggers the awareness of our potential deficiencies?

Posted on October 6, 2021
aircraft carrier

Strong Up the Middle

A few months ago, I was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend two days on board a United States aircraft carrier—the USS Abraham Lincoln—while she was at sea conducting flight operations. It was an immersion experience that will forever change the way I look at work and life. No kidding.

Posted on October 6, 2021
emergancy response

High-Consequence Decision-Making: The Data is Telling an Important Story

As an industry, we are very good at examining aviation accidents after they result in injury or tragedy. Regrettably, we fail to take advantage of the proactive learning opportunities—those found…

Posted on September 8, 2021
training program

Train Smarter: The Benefit of an Annual Training Program Analysis

Training programs are an investment of both money and employee resources (time). Training can be used to improve employees’ skills, expand an individual’s knowledge to a new topic, highlight changes, raise awareness to create a point of emphasis, improve efficiency, manage risk or simply to ensure compliance.

Posted on September 8, 2021
yawning pilot

Long-COVID Another Challenge for a Safe Operation

Most people infected with Covid-19 will recover from their symptoms, if any, in a maximum period of four weeks. However, 10-30% of people diagnosed with COVID-19 will experience long-term after-effects. When existing symptoms last longer than expected or new ones develop following the acute phase of COVID-19 infection, it is referred to as “ongoing” symptomatic COVID-19 (from four to twelve weeks).

Posted on July 30, 2021
time to act sign

Vigilance! Now More Than Ever. A Time to Act!

As the aviation community begins its rebound from the COVID-19 experience, managers and safety professionals must be focused on getting staff back to work safely and returning to pre-COVID routines. One thing is for certain, bringing staff back to full strength to match the rebound has uncovered some less-than-desired consequences, even for those operators who believe they have a fully functional SMS.

Posted on July 30, 2021