Avionics News September 2016 - 35

an avionics shop's SMS needs while minimizing the
administrative burdens and maximizing the safety benefits."
So you might ask, How can the AEA offer a free SMS
program that is on par with the pay-per-play versions?

trained in its implementation," Peri said. "We require the shop's
safety manager to get face-to-face training by the AEA SMS
program administrator - me - and all of the other employees
can accomplish their required training on our website."

No need to reinvent the wheel
Peri explained that while aircraft operators may require
specialized guidelines and customized implementation
plans for SMS compliance, the AEA discovered that most
everything an avionics shop needed already exists.
"In general, avionics shops operate like repair stations,
and every repair station is already audited by the FAA or
other governing body on an annual basis," he said. "Also, a
Part 145 shop describes its business and operations in two
manuals: the repair station manual and the quality control
manual.
"Flight departments are operationally focused with lots
of variables, while the regulations affecting avionics shops
are prescriptive focused, so we already have a repair station
manual that states our
compliance requirements.
The FAA and other governing
authorities worldwide use that
manual as the guideline for
those audits. So we simply
take advantage of the fact that
all of our member companies
already have been passing
those regulatory audits and
use that information as our
SMS foundation."
Peri explained that by using a shop's repair station manual,
all the requirements for creating an SMS program are already
available.
"There's no need to go backward and wonder if you are
making the right decision," he said. "It's already been made
for you by the regulatory authorities approving your manual
and you passing the annual audits. Now, if you change your
business, then yes, you need to go back and do it again."

10-1=10
Peri added that in the simplest form, an SMS program
delivers both reactive and proactive benefits to shops.
"I fully expect the Canadian bilateral and the European
bilateral agreements to require SMS program implementation
by U.S. shops that have Canadian or EASA certificates," he
said. "And I believe that it won't be long before the FAA
mandates some level of SMS compliance, especially for air
carrier support.
"Repair stations, and any business for that matter, know
when an injury occurs, when a hazardous chemical spill
happens, when a product is returned for warranty work, and
the action taken to react to these actions fall into the reactive
side of SMS. This is something every successful business
already does.
"From the proactive side,
any time you get to look at
your business and can tap
your employees to help create
a better organization, you
naturally get benefits."
Peri explained that from
the day the first radio was put
in an airplane, avionics shops
have been absorbing the costs
of hangar-rash; nonreportable insurance claims; lost manhours due to accidents, and lost hours filling out reports. Just
the things you've put down as the costs of doing business.
"These are the kinds of costs we can eliminate by capturing
the cause of incidents that are historic precursors of something
bigger happening," Peri said. "Say a shop has 10 technicians
and one of them has a slip-and-fall injury at work. You just
lost 10 percent of your productivity, but you still have to do
the same amount of work in the same amount of time.
To make the same output, you have to increase your
overtime expenses by that 10 percent. That's a hit that small
shops can't afford to take. With an SMS program in place,
you won't avoid every accident or incident, but you will
eliminate many of those problems and their root causes."
While implementing any SMS program may sound
daunting to you, with the help of the AEA, it's a lot easier
than you think.

SMS in a day
Peri noted that with the majority of all guidelines and
documentation already in the hands of the typical shop owner,
the bulk of the remaining work is in the form of training the
company's employees to follow the new SMS guidelines and
processes. And the AEA's program has made that incredibly easy.
In fact, it's not uncommon for the entire SMS
implementation process to be done in a day.
"In order to turn the SMS program on, everyone has to be

Continued on following page
avionics news

september

2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News September 2016