Document Control Software: Q-Pulse for Integrated Aviation Quality & Safety Management

Aviation Safety Management

Traditionally, the aviation industry has taken a reactive approach to managing safety, for example in occurrence reporting. As well as helping the industry to manage regulatory compliance, SMS have given airlines tools and techniques that have helped them to move from a reactive approach to take a more proactive stance. However, the continuing growth and expansion of the industry exerts increasing pressure on airlines to extend the SMS to every level and to all areas of the organization, in order to maintain the way in which safety is managed, and to continue to make sure that safety and airworthiness are improving.

This shift in how safety is managed can be seen in the changing requirements of aviation regulations and standards: from January 2009, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), airlines must establish a SMS that complies with ICAO standards and recommended practices (SARPs).

A Systematic and Holistic Approach to Safety & Quality

For the airline industry, Q-Pulse is the only commercially available software solution that offers a centralized and standardized framework that encompasses the four key components of the corporate SMS based on the ICAO framework:

• safety policy and objectives
• safety risk management
• safety assurance
• safety promotion

By enabling airlines to take a proactive stance in establishing how safety is managed in all areas of the organization, Q-Pulse helps airlines to adopt a systematic and holistic approach to managing quality and safety in all areas and at all levels of the organization. In integrating quality and safety management systems with Q-Pulse, airlines can achieve both a structured approach to managing quality and safety and a holistic viewpoint of the QMS and SMS status in all areas and at all levels of the organization.