A Safety Management System SMS

A safety management system is defined as ongoing activities and efforts directed to control accidental losses by monitoring critical safety elements on an ongoing basis. The monitoring includes the promotion, improvement, and auditing of the critical elements regularly. 

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The UK government enquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea in 1988 has had a significant impact on working practices and equipment and has helped to improve offshore safety around the world. One result has been the development of a Safety Management System (SMS) which is a method of integrating work practices, and is a form of quality management system. Major oil companies have each developed their own specific SMS, to suit local environments and modes of operation, but the SMS typically addresses the following areas (recommended by the Cullen Enquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster) ... 

A safety audit provides the means for a systematic analysis of each element of a safety management system (SMS) to determine the extent and quality of the controls. 

The oil and gas industry has operated on the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS) for decades, but the U.S. offehore wind industry is only now becoming established. At the time of this writing, offshore wind projects have received preliminary approvals from relevant federal agencies, but construction has not yet started. As mentioned in Chapter 3, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued basic requirements for a safety management system (SMS) in Subpart H of 30 CFR 585 in 2009 but has not fully defined the substance to be included in an SMS. Chapter 4 identified many hazards shared by land-based and offshore wind farms and relevant federal regulations and industry standards that may apply, and it discussed several hazards unique to offshore wind farms. 

The elements of a Safety management system (SMS). A number of important elements are specifed that have to do with the settingofpolicy and creation of plans and organizational capacity to realize that policy (PLAN), the analysis of hazards and effects leading to planningand implementation of those plans in order to manage the risks (DO), and the control on the effective performance of those steps (CHECK). A number of feedback loops are specified to see where the information gained should be sent (FEEDBACK)... 

The purpose of a safety management system (SMS) is to ensure that the organisation is achieving the goals safely, efficiently and without damaging the environment One of the most important factors of the safety case is an explanation of how the operator s management system will be adapted to ensure that safety objectives are actually achieved. 

A safety management system (SMS), which facilitates the above two points, see Section 9.3.3. 

An essential part of any safety case is a safety management system (SMS). A safety case may cover all, or part, of an operation and therefore there may be several safety cases but each will be managed by a single corporate safety management system (see Chapter 12). The choice of how the safety cases are delineated is made by the safety management system in such a manner that the resulting package (see Fig. 9.2) of safety cases covers all safety-critical activities. 

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