The New Normal—IOSA and SMS

Best Practices for Safety Programs
There is no absolute, never-to-be-improved-upon, standard for a safety program. We apply what works, what is learned, often as a result of an accident or incident and the exhaustive investigation and analysis that ensue. We learned from others’ experiences and shared the knowledge within and among industries. “Best practices” is what regulatory agencies such as ICAO, EASA, the FAA, and industry groups, such as the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), offer from their points of view.

For example, with Safety Management Systems (SMS) and the theory behind them, forward thinking or high reliability organizations believe failure, in any form, is not an option. They embrace emerging theory to determine how best to apply it to their specific organization and dynamic culture. Through understanding the theory and putting it into practice by implementation and validation, they begin to realize the benefits that applied best practices bring to their organization and, in the best of cases, to our industry.

One such best practice impacting our industry is IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit Program). This is the new benchmark for safety- and quality-focused air carriers. IOSA builds on the theory of the importance of documenting all company functions, from policy to processes to expected outcomes and objective evidence. IOSA uses the time-tested benefits of enterprise-wide quality assurance and incorporates the emerging elements of the traditional SMS. IOSA as a best practice is a huge success story. No other program has so galvanized and harmonized the safety and quality performance aspects of commercial air carrier operations. Today, 376 airlines worldwide actively participate and support IOSA .

Airlines rely on best practices because they can be shared. This saves valuable time in research, development and the task of actually developing the text to capture how to apply the theory. Many airlines have relied on this method and have used sample templates to capture the essence of safety theory in a manner consistent with how other airlines viewed or interpreted that theory. On occasion, the interpretation is what is dictated by the regulator or by the industry, as it looks for a solution that is easily understood. Also, we know that those being regulated often acquiesce to the desires of the regulator, believing that the regulator is all knowing and has done its own exhaustive research to prove the theory.

In many situations the industry accepts, with complete abandon, the regulator’s view as the right response. For example, few would argue that the theory behind such regulated standards as MNPS, RVSM, RVR and RNP was casually conceived and implemented. In point of fact, these standards were founded on the ever-evolving science of air traffic management.

Application
Yet, when it comes to safety and the application of a “one size fits all” concept for safety, we enter an area that is not bound by the traditional laws of science, statistics and rational thought. We are now in the uncharted waters of behavioral and cultural application.

Let’s take, for example, IOSA. Launched in 2004 as a harmonized operational quality and safety audit program, IOSA was designed to eliminate the dozens, if not hundreds, of redundant audits airlines and their suppliers and vendors were subject to. Today, IOSA has changed the industry by raising the bar in the form of the quality of the documentation used within an airline and provided out to its vendors. It has educated the industry on the meaning of “documented and implemented,” meaning if it’s written down within a company document, it is surely occurring, consistently, and subject to routine quality (internal evaluation) reviews. Those quality reviews, or enterprise-wide operational integrity assessments (also known as Quality Systems), enable an organization to examine an event or potential event by tracking back to the beginning of the causal chain, to the birth of an un-proven practice, to a lapse in training, or to an omission in the development of a complex process.

Since the beginning of the IOSA experience, airlines have been so focused on the “conformity” aspect of the audit, for top-down driven commercial reasons such as the necessity for a code share, that many have glossed over the true benefits that IOSA can bring to the organization. In fact, we applaud airlines that, on renewal registration, begin their briefing to us as their Audit Organization. They are to be commended for their desire to continue to learn from the experience of the safety professionals and auditors assembled to test their airline. Of course, some still view IOSA as a “check the box, lost in the paperwork” exercise.

Our view is that forward thinking airline leaders are no longer satisfied with merely meeting regulatory requirements promulgated by their Authority. Rather, with the emergence of IOSA, they view the regulations as the lowest common denominator. Eight years since its inauguration, IOSA is the new common denominator among the world’s premier carriers. If you have not achieved IOSA and embraced the theory and applied its benefits to your specific operational culture, then the true benefit has not been realized.

The benefit of IOSA is collaborative procedural discipline—developing the internal culture, founded on continuous training and education, and establishing a well-communicated framework of documented policies, processes, procedures and SOPs. These are all subject to routine quality validation throughout the entire organization.

Another benefit of the IOSA theory is living it, every day, applying and practicing the taxonomy of IOSA; and passionately believing in the benefits of active communication. As Vista Elite Members, many have begun the journey to and beyond IOSA. Validating your progress by means of an independent assessment will ensure your organization’s focus remains on point.

Safety Audit Resources:

ICF SH&E Safety website

International Air Transportation Association

The IOSA section of the IATA website