A Safety Management System (SMS) is intended to serve as a solution that, at a minimum, allows organizations to meet their legal obligations under state and federal law.  An effective SMS seamlessly integrates all aspects of safety operations including (but not limited to) regulatory requirements, policies and procedures, case and incident management, internal audits and training plans.

A SMS is only as good as its design and implementation.  An effective SMS allows organizations to look at all the risks within the organization in a single system rather than having multiple, competing, ‘Safety Management Silos.’  Unless safety is viewed holistically, it will often interfere with the prioritization of improvements and safety issues being missed.  The antidote to such silo thinking is the proper evaluation of all risks, a key requirement to an effective SMS.

Does your company have a safety management system?  Is it effective?  I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.