UAS Safety Management System for Schools and Organizations

What is a Safety Management System? How does it apply to flying drones? You will find the answers to these questions and much more in this introduction to UAS SMS.

In this series of activities, you will learn about creating flying safety policy and why it is the cornerstone of an SMS. You will craft the policy for your school or organization.

How safe is safe enough? How much risk is OK? How much risk is too much? When it comes to flying, this second pillar of an SMS program can seem daunting. You will create the safety and risk management plan that supports policy.

How do you know if your UAS program is safe enough? You will learn about setting safety metrics that let you know if the program is okay or if it's going down a slippery slope towards disaster. Safety assurance sets the numbers that you can show senior leadership that the program is going well. Safety assurance also helps provide objective feedback to you and your learning pilots and instructors that improvements are needed.

Promotion of SMS is about keeping safety and risk awareness at the forefront of your flyers' minds. Periodic meetings, safety topics, and lessons-learned presentations provide the opportunities to stay ahead of upcoming flying conditions, periodic reviews for airspace and aircraft limitations, as well as keeping one accident from becoming a pandemic by sharing pilots' experiences and what to watch out for. This pillar supports Pillars 1, 2, and 3.

It used to be said that no one flew until the weight of the post-flight and pre-flight paperwork equals the weight of the aircraft. With online forms, weight is no longer a consideration. But keeping track of who has what aircraft, how many flight hours are on which batteries, and who is responsible for each flight is the hallmark of a professional flying program. You will learn how to document flying responsibility and perceived risks for a flight--an important skill which your learning pilots will need to embrace as they step up from recreational flying to performing commercial missions.

Sure, you can probably give a presentation about flying. But what about your learning pilots? Leadership is a skill that is learned and coached to bring out the best in each flyer. Having a plan--a schedule--of timely aviation-related safety topics and activities let's others learn by doing and instructing others.

The first thing senior leaders read is the executive summary. But for program developers, it's the last thing we write. You distill your SMS program into a one-page document and add the final touches to YOUR program.

We also have a couple of thoughts to share about the importance of what you have just completed.