Safety management systems (SMS)

Guidance Note Title Safety Management Systems (SMS)
Principal Audience This guidance note will be of use to those involved in the development of a facility safety case and will also be highly relevant to those responsible for managing ongoing operations and maintenance activities. This guidance note discusses how control measures and information relating to these should be systematically managed within the safety management system. It discusses how the SMS must relate to each activity in the selection and on-going maintenance of control measures, and the corresponding elements of the SMS must themselves have performance standards that are appropriate and are achieved in practice
Core Concepts
  • The SMS is to be comprehensive & integrated
  • The SMS is the primary means of achieving safety improvements - this is achieved by assuring the performance of adopted control measures
  • The SMS needs to reflect the hazards that are present and support the actual practices that are present on the facility
  • The SMS needs to be documented - a summary of the SMS must be contained within the safety case.
  • Management and the workforce need to participate in and understand the SMS
  • The SMS should incorporate the generic management system of planning, implementation, monitoring, corrective action and review.
  • The SMS itself should be subject to regular review and improvement
  • The processes for reviewing a safety case should be incorporated into the SMS, so that the safety case is a product of the established SMS
Current Status This guidance note was posted as a draft discussion document for consultation. Comments were invited from industry and other interested stakeholders.
Next Step NOPSEMA will compile the comments and update the guidance note.
Timing Comments are currently being reviewed. Planned publication is Q3 2011/12.
Consultation Process Initial draft by NOPSEMA with technical guidance provided by sample industry group, followed by open consultation via discussion paper on website.
Draft Document for Consultation [Document currently undergoing revision]
Comments Template Comments on the initial draft have closed.