Aviation Safety Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 19 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Aviation Safety Managers, Flight Operations Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-AM-001

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with aviation operations, maintenance, airport services, air traffic services or aviation quality and compliance work.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Aviation organisations must identify hazards before they become occurrences, make risk decisions that can be defended, and show regulators that safety controls work. This requires more than reporting incidents or holding safety meetings. Accountable managers, safety personnel and operational leaders need a structured safety management system (SMS) that connects operational data, risk controls, assurance activity and improvement decisions across flight operations, maintenance, airports, air traffic services and ground handling.

This course develops the practical methods used to design, operate and improve an aviation SMS. Participants work with ICAO Annex 19 and ICAO Doc 9859 concepts; hazard identification methods; risk matrices; BowTie analysis; occurrence reporting; investigation methods; safety performance indicators; internal assurance; management of change; emergency response planning; human factors; and supplier oversight. The course also addresses how safety responsibilities are assigned, how safety action groups function, and how senior management receives meaningful safety information.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with aviation cases, facilitated group analysis, reporting and investigation simulations, risk-control reviews, and application planning. Participants progressively build an SMS portfolio based on a realistic airline, maintenance, airport, air navigation or ground-services case, with scope to adapt material to their own operation. They leave with a documented safety management plan, hazard register, risk assessments, safety performance dashboard, assurance schedule and implementation priorities.

The course suits professionals with operational, technical, quality, safety or management responsibilities who need to contribute to an existing SMS or establish one within a regulated aviation activity.

What you will be able to do

  • Interpret ICAO Annex 19 and ICAO Doc 9859 requirements for an aviation safety management system
  • Construct an aviation SMS framework with defined accountabilities, policies and governance arrangements
  • Identify operational hazards using reporting data, process mapping and structured hazard workshops
  • Assess safety risks using likelihood-severity matrices, BowTie analysis and control effectiveness ratings
  • Develop safety performance indicators, targets and data-review routines for management decisions
  • Conduct occurrence investigations using evidence collection, causal analysis and corrective-action tracking
  • Plan assurance, management-of-change and emergency-response activities within an SMS
  • Present a documented SMS implementation plan supported by risk, assurance and performance evidence

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Ability to build and explain an aviation SMS structure
  • Practical confidence assessing operational safety risks
  • Evidence-based methods for reviewing occurrence reports and investigations
  • Skills to produce meaningful safety performance information for managers
  • A reusable portfolio of SMS documents for workplace application

For your organisation

  • Clearer accountability for safety decisions and risk acceptance
  • More consistent hazard reporting, assessment and corrective-action follow-up
  • Stronger evidence for regulator, customer and internal assurance reviews
  • Earlier identification of operational control weaknesses and emerging trends
  • A structured SMS implementation plan aligned with aviation safety expectations

Course modules

19 modules over 10 days

Participants can explain the purpose, structure and operating logic of an aviation SMS.

  • ICAO Annex 19 safety management principles and State safety responsibilities
  • Four SMS components translated into accountable operational management activities
  • Safety management distinctions between compliance, quality assurance and risk control
  • Accident causation models including Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model
  • Proactive, predictive and reactive safety management approaches compared
  • Safety risk versus operational risk and security risk boundaries

Participants can relate SMS arrangements to regulatory approvals, manuals and organisational obligations.

  • ICAO Doc 9859 guidance applied to service-provider SMS design
  • National aviation authority requirements mapped against organisational approval conditions
  • Operations manuals, exposition documents and safety-management document interfaces
  • Defining acceptable levels of safety performance within regulatory limits
  • Document control arrangements for policies, procedures, records and revisions
  • Demonstrating SMS maturity through objective evidence and traceable decisions

Participants can establish safety governance roles, decision rights and escalation routes.

  • Accountable executive duties for resources, safety objectives and risk acceptance
  • Safety manager authority, independence, access and advisory responsibilities
  • Safety review board terms of reference and decision records
  • Safety action group membership, remit and action-tracking discipline
  • RACI matrices for operational hazards, controls and corrective actions
  • Escalation thresholds for intolerable risks, overdue actions and recurrent events

Participants can identify hazards from operational processes, interfaces and safety information.

  • Process mapping identifies hazards at task handovers and operational interfaces
  • Hazard workshops structured through prompts, scenarios and specialist knowledge
  • Occurrence reports screened for hazards, consequences and missing controls
  • Change proposals reviewed for new hazards and affected stakeholders
  • SHELL model examines software, hardware, environment and liveware interactions
  • Hazard registers capture sources, consequences, controls and ownership

Participants can assess safety risks and justify risk acceptance decisions.

  • Likelihood-severity matrices applied using defined probability and consequence criteria
  • Credible worst-case consequences distinguished from most likely outcomes
  • Risk tolerability categories guide acceptance, mitigation and escalation decisions
  • Existing controls evaluated for capability, reliability and operational availability
  • Residual risk recorded after planned mitigations and control verification
  • Risk acceptance authorities matched to risk category and organisational accountability

Participants can design, document and test preventive and recovery controls.

  • BowTie diagrams connect threats, top events, consequences and barriers
  • Preventive controls reduce threat likelihood before the top event
  • Recovery controls limit consequences after loss of operational control
  • Barrier degradation factors identify conditions that weaken control performance
  • Control owners, performance standards and verification sources documented
  • ALARP reasoning supports proportionate safety risk reduction decisions

Participants can establish reporting processes that produce usable safety intelligence.

  • Mandatory and voluntary occurrence reporting routes compared and defined
  • Just Culture principles distinguish human error, drift and reckless conduct
  • Confidential reporting protections and data-access rules established
  • Report classification separates hazards, occurrences, observations and suggestions
  • Initial triage assigns urgency, investigation level and responsible owner
  • Feedback loops show reporters how submitted information informed action

Participants can plan and manage proportionate safety investigations from occurrence to action.

  • Investigation scope set according to severity, recurrence and learning potential
  • Evidence collection preserves records, interviews, technical data and timelines
  • Five Whys analysis tests causal chains without assigning premature blame
  • HFACS categories identify organisational, supervisory and individual contributing factors
  • Event-and-causal-factor charts organise sequences, conditions and decisions
  • Corrective actions address causes, controls, ownership and due dates

Participants can organise safety data sources and identify meaningful operational trends.

  • Safety data sources include reports, audits, flight data and maintenance records
  • Data taxonomy standardises event categories, locations, phases and consequences
  • Trend charts distinguish random variation from recurring operational signals
  • Rate calculations use exposure measures such as movements, sectors or hours
  • Data-quality checks identify duplicates, missing fields and inconsistent classifications
  • Narrative coding extracts recurring conditions from free-text safety reports

Participants can develop safety performance indicators linked to operational risk controls.

  • Safety performance indicators link objectives, hazards, controls and decision thresholds
  • Leading indicators monitor control activity before adverse outcomes occur
  • Lagging indicators measure events, consequences and loss of control
  • SMART targets define direction, timeframe, tolerance and accountable owners
  • Trigger levels prompt investigation, management review or immediate intervention
  • Dashboard design presents trends, exposure, actions and unresolved risks

Participants can plan assurance activity that tests compliance, control performance and improvement.

  • Safety assurance verifies controls achieve their stated performance standards
  • Audit programmes sample processes, records, observations and staff understanding
  • Audit findings classified by risk, recurrence and regulatory significance
  • Root-cause analysis prevents repetitive corrective actions and superficial closure
  • Corrective-action plans specify deliverables, owners, deadlines and effectiveness checks
  • Management reviews assess trends, resources, risks and action status

Participants can assess and control safety risks arising from operational change.

  • Change categories include equipment, procedures, staffing, routes and facilities
  • Change impact assessments identify affected tasks, hazards and interfaces
  • Pre-implementation risk assessments define controls, approvals and readiness criteria
  • Operational trials establish monitoring measures, limits and stop conditions
  • Post-implementation reviews confirm expected performance and unintended consequences
  • Configuration records maintain traceability between approved changes and operating documents

Participants can align emergency response arrangements with SMS risk and recovery requirements.

  • Emergency response plans define command, communications and decision authorities
  • Crisis management roles coordinate operational continuity and family assistance
  • Emergency checklists cover activation, notifications, records and media coordination
  • Tabletop scenarios test escalation routes, role clarity and information flow
  • Business continuity arrangements address recovery of critical aviation services
  • Post-event reviews capture lessons, actions and plan revision requirements

Participants can incorporate human factors evidence into hazard analysis and safety controls.

  • Human performance variability considered during normal and disrupted operations
  • Fatigue risk factors include duty patterns, sleep opportunity and workload
  • Threat and Error Management identifies threats, errors and undesired states
  • Workload, communication and supervision factors assessed during task analysis
  • Procedural drift examined through local adaptations and production pressures
  • Training, design and supervision controls address foreseeable human limitations

Participants can manage safety risks created by contracted activities and operational interfaces.

  • Contractor risk profiles reflect task criticality, oversight needs and interfaces
  • Service-level agreements specify reporting, competence and safety-data obligations
  • Prequalification reviews examine approvals, competence, history and control arrangements
  • Interface agreements allocate responsibilities between airport, airline and ground handler
  • Supplier audits test contracted controls, records and corrective-action performance
  • Shared hazard registers document cross-organisational risks and agreed actions

Participants can plan communication and engagement activities that support reporting and control use.

  • Safety culture indicators examine reporting, learning, trust and accountability
  • Management walkarounds gather operational concerns from frontline personnel
  • Safety briefings communicate relevant hazards, controls and recent learning
  • Feedback campaigns close reporting loops with specific action updates
  • Safety promotion plans match messages to operational roles and risks
  • Communication effectiveness tested through observation, interviews and reporting patterns

Participants can apply SMS methods to common risks across aviation operating areas.

  • Runway incursion hazards assessed through procedures, markings and communication barriers
  • Foreign object debris controls examined across apron and maintenance activities
  • Maintenance error risks analysed using task complexity and independent inspection
  • Ground handling turnaround risks mapped across airline and airport interfaces
  • Unstable approach events assessed through flight data and crew reports
  • Air traffic service risks reviewed using separation, workload and equipment controls

Participants can prepare a phased plan for introducing or improving an aviation SMS.

  • Gap analysis compares current arrangements against ICAO SMS component expectations
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence governance, reporting, risk and assurance activities
  • Resource plans identify competent personnel, systems, training and budget needs
  • Milestones connect implementation tasks with evidence of completed capability
  • Change communication plans prepare managers, specialists and frontline personnel
  • Maturity reviews prioritise improvement actions using risk and implementation evidence

Participants can build, review and present a complete aviation SMS implementation package for a defined operation.

  • SMS scope defines operational boundaries, approvals, interfaces and accountable executive
  • Safety policy assigns governance roles, reporting commitments and review arrangements
  • Hazard register documents priority risks, controls, owners and residual ratings
  • BowTie analysis tests barriers for one high-consequence operational hazard
  • Safety performance dashboard links indicators, targets, thresholds and review actions
  • Assurance schedule integrates audits, investigations, change reviews and management meetings
  • Implementation presentation defends priorities, resources, evidence and risk decisions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Aviation SMS implementation plan template
  2. Operational hazard register and risk matrix
  3. BowTie barrier analysis template
  4. Occurrence investigation and corrective-action tracker
  5. Safety performance indicator dashboard model
  6. Safety assurance and audit schedule

Who should attend

  • Aviation Safety Managers — responsible for establishing, maintaining or improving an SMS
  • Flight Operations Managers — accountable for managing operational hazards and safety controls
  • Maintenance Managers — needing SMS methods for maintenance error, reliability and change risks
  • Airport Operations Managers — responsible for airside, terminal and ground-service safety interfaces
  • Quality and Compliance Managers — integrating audit findings, occurrence data and corrective actions
  • Accountable Managers — requiring informed oversight of safety risk and performance

Skills and tools covered

Safety risk assessmentHazard identificationSafety assuranceOccurrence investigationSafety performance monitoringSMS implementation

Tools and standards

ICAO Annex 19, ICAO Doc 9859, BowTie analysis, HFACS

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short technical briefings followed by aviation cases drawn from airline, maintenance, airport, air traffic and ground-handling contexts. Participants analyse occurrence reports, map operational processes, assess hazards, test controls and interpret safety data in facilitated groups. Investigation and management-of-change simulations develop decision-making under realistic constraints. Each module adds material to an SMS working portfolio, while instructor feedback links outputs to ICAO expectations and participants’ own operating responsibilities. Final sessions focus on reviewing, presenting and refining an implementation plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with aviation operations, maintenance, airport services, air traffic services or aviation quality and compliance work. They should understand their organisation’s reporting routes, operating procedures and management structure. Experience of audits, incident reporting, operational control or risk assessment is useful but not essential. The course does not require prior SMS certification, engineering qualifications, pilot licences, statistical modelling expertise or detailed knowledge of a particular national aviation authority’s regulations. Participants benefit most when they can bring examples of real operational processes or safety concerns.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic aviation operations, maintenance, airport services, air traffic services, quality or compliance work. Prior formal SMS training is not required, but familiarity with reporting or operational procedures will help.

Bring examples of non-sensitive processes, reporting forms, audit findings or safety concerns from your workplace if permitted by your employer. Participants can use these examples when preparing their application plans, but no confidential information is required.

It is designed for safety managers, operational managers, maintenance leaders, airport personnel, quality staff, compliance professionals and accountable managers. It is most useful for people who contribute to safety decisions, reporting, assurance or risk-control activities.

This course focuses on the management system connecting hazards, risks, safety data, assurance and management action. Audit and human factors methods are included where they support SMS operation, rather than treated as separate specialist disciplines.

Participants leave with templates and a phased implementation package that can be adapted to their own operation. The methods support practical tasks such as reviewing a hazard register, setting safety indicators, planning an investigation or assessing a proposed change.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours. The first part establishes SMS foundations and risk methods; later modules address assurance, data, change, human factors and implementation, ending with a capstone presentation.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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