Risk management strategies' objectives are focused on preventing and controlling risk of occurrence of errors and harmful events. Of course, the final objective is primarily that of increasing aviation safety and secondarily, that of reducing financial burdens associated with adverse events. During Phase 2 of the SMS implementation plan, the implementation of an effective risk management system is of vital strategic importance.
When implementing an SMS program, one should remember that proactive risk management has many advantages over reactive risk management and is therefore preferable in the long run. Reactive risk management should not stop when your organization moves toward implementing proactive risk management strategies. Reactive risk management typically starts with formal hazard reports entering the system and then moving into the risk management process. When warranted, investigations may be required with a root cause analysis or an investigation into the human factors that precipitated the event.
Reactive risk management strategies should be taken exclusively to obtain information regarding risk and errors in the initial phases of your SMS implementation plan, as well as monitoring and follow-up phases. When your reactive risk management is stable or mature, then you should focus on proactive risk management. Proactive strategies include a thorough hazard analysis of business processes. After identifying hazards, you may then define the risks and design controls to mitigate or transfer the risk associated with these hazards.
The proactive phase of risk management requires considerable organization while trying to manage data related to the business processes across the entire organization. Web-based database software programs, such as SMS Pro™, can make this task much easier. Operational risk profiles can be easily created based on shared hazard libraries.