Safety-culture Measuring, Assessing and Rating Tool
On behalf of EASA, SIG Aviation developed a tool to assess the Safety Culture in (flight) operational environments. The Safety culture Measuring, Assessing and Rating Tool (SMART) is an assessment method that uses surveying, analysing and validation tools. The methodology developed is intended for flight operational organisations (AOC and NCC operators), but can easily be expanded or adapted to other domains.
The essence of the tool is that, in order for an organisation to have a positive safety culture, various dimensions of safety need to exist throughout the entire organisation. From top to bottom. If safety could be visualised like a tree, the analogy is that this tree can only be growing if it's root system is healthy.
The SMART method uses tailored questions, correlated with the specific responsibilities that exist in the various layers of an operational organisation. The aim of the method is to assess positive and negative markers over the various dimensions of a safety culture. Based on the assessment outcome and identified hotspots, the tool includes a validation process to substantiate subjective information in a follow-up process.
EASA SMART was specifically designed for Civil Aviation Authorities and Flight Operations Organisations to assess Safety Culture. Download the full report for more information.
Dimensions of a Safety Culture
According to various social scientists, a ‘culture’ consists of several complex dimensions that interact. A safety culture refers to the values, beliefs, and attitudes that are shared by an organization's members regarding safety in the workplace.
In terms of ‘safety culture’, a large number of individual elements can be identified that are essential for creating ‘safety’. The existence, functioning and interaction between these individual elements will determine how safety is experienced and managed in the organisation.
In the SMART methodology, a decision was made to group these elements logically into six high-level dimensions.
Safety Hotspots
After processing the results of the survey, the SMART method produced a matrix combining the organisational levels and safety culture dimensions. In this matrix, lower scoring combinations are coloured towards red, and higher scoring combinations are coloured green. With this colour coding, it becomes possible to identify areas of interest.
Tool access
The safety culture assessment tool has been developed for Civil Aviation Authorities of EU Member States. Please complete the access request form to obtain access, information or support. Your request will be forwarded to the EASA Project Manager for SMART. Initial support is provided free of charge by SIG Aviation.