SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM BENEFITS

Duncan Aviation began developing an SMS (Safety Management System) in 2013, although there was not yet an industry regulatory requirement for MRO (Maintenance Repair and Overhaul) facilities to implement one.

 “We wanted to implement an SMS and provide feedback to the FAA from an industry perspective, which we did through organizations such as GAMA (General Aviation Manufacturers Association) and participation in the FAA’s voluntary SMS program,” says SMS Manager Mike Brown. “We believed having an SMS would eventually be mandated and we felt it was important for the MRO community to have a voice in the process. So the recent EASA regulation (EU) 2021/1963 requiring SMS for MROs was not a big surprise.”

An SMS is a set of formal processes and tools that comprise a structured safety program to better manage hazards and continuously improve the safety of products, services, and people. Although Duncan Aviation had written processes in place for decades, formalizing an SMS helped the company better identify hazards and communicate them and their corresponding mitigations enterprise-wide and share information with the industry.

“Sharing information is a necessary part of any SMS,” says Brown. “Our ability to share the collective company wisdom helps prevent repeat mistakes, saves technicians and customers time, and helps the industry through publishing in places like our Straight Talk podcasts and webinars and our monthly Duncan Intelligence email.” 

Duncan Aviation houses data in its proprietary DAK* (Duncan Aviation Knowledgebase), which is accessible companywide. It contains technical notes about problems and their resolutions so others within the organization can benefit. 

Hazard identification and risk management are SMS keys. Hazard identification is done three ways: reactively, proactively, and predictively. 

Reactive

Duncan Aviation formally reviews every incident, which is the reactive component, and they thoroughly document everything. The SMS puts in place processes to formally share information throughout the company. When a problem occurs at the Lincoln, Nebraska, facility, the company makes sure the resolution is implemented in all of its facilities and locations.

Proactive

Employees are encouraged to report any type of hazard that may lead to an incident or injury. Duncan Aviation’s hangars are busy workplaces with a multitude of moving parts. Having team members engaged and proactively reporting hazards before they become a problem is crucial.

Predictive

As part of the SMS, whenever changes are proposed to systems or facilities, teams sit down and discuss possible hazards and ways to prevent them.

For instance, Duncan Aviation is building new hangars at its Lincoln, Nebraska, and Battle Creek, Michigan, locations. Long before the actual groundbreaking, management conducted a formal risk assessment of every aspect of the new hangars.

“Because of the SMS, we had a way to look at everything the expansion will touch, identify risks, and put plans in place to mitigate them,” Brown says.

SMS Affects Our Customers

Duncan Aviation’s scheduling process is a safety risk management issue and one that affects the company’s customers.

“Before we schedule a customer’s aircraft to come to one of our facilities, we have a team of schedulers who make sure we have hangar space, the proper tooling, and adequate technicians who are appropriately trained and certified for the job,” says Brown. “We have to know if there are three of the same aircraft coming in at the same time because that could stretch our technicians too thin. We have to check supply chains and parts availability. Those are all potential risks that will prevent us from completing the project on time.”

Additionally, when customers drop in when the company has no available hangar space, company representatives need to inform customers that their aircraft will be on the ramp. Duncan Aviation also then has to assess the risks to  technicians and the aircraft if any work is to be performed in that location. Questions asked include: Will the ramp be icy? Will technicians be working in the dark?

“The safety risk management process helps us make sure a less-than-ideal situation run as smoothly as possible,” says Brown.

*For more information, see the 2019 Spring Duncan Debrief, Keeping It In The Family: A Look At Duncan Aviation’s Succession Planning, DuncanAviation.aero/debrief/2019/Spring/keeping-it-in-the-family

Duncan Intelligence

One of the most beneficial aspects of an SMS is the ability to share hard-won wisdom with team members, customers, and the business aviation community. Although there is no formal industrywide repository for owners, pilots, or maintenance teams to access, Duncan Aviation does its best to share potential gotchas. Each month, the company emails the Duncan Intelligence, a newsletter that shares potential problems and solutions that affect accessories, airframe, avionics, and engines.

Example articles from this publication include the following:

• April 2022. Hawker, Don’t Forget Chapter 24: Electrical Power Maintenance Practices—prevent damage to a terminal block caused from improper torqueing of the terminal nut and improper orientation of the terminals themselves.
• November 2021. Falcon 7X, Greasing Of The Horizontal Stabilizer Trim Actuator—When performing a 12-month/800 hour lubrication of the H-Stab actuator, make sure to use the proper grease gun adapter and correct technique to avoid rejection of the actuator due to it not taking grease.
• August 2021. Fuel System Contamination & Starvation—Starvation occurs when the available fuel is unable to reach the engines. Water, debris, and microbes in an aircraft fuel tank clog fuel supply lines and filters and ultimately starve the engines of necessary fuel.