Description
The organisational Safety Policy is considered the foundation of the Safety Management System (SMS) established by an operator/service provider. It’s the first important milestone of SMS implementation that defines the value of safety in the overall business and performance framework of the organisation. Ideally, the safety policy should confirm the organisation’s commitment to safety and clearly indicate that safety is afforded highest priority in the service provision. ICAO Safety Management Manual (Doc 9859) suggests that the management commitment to safety should be formally expressed in a statement of the organisation’s Safety Policy, which will reflect the organisation’s philosophy of safety management.
The Safety Policy may take many different forms, but normally it is a written document that describes the generic principles upon which the SMS is built and operated. A typical safety policy document would consist of a policy statement that is further expanded by a number of basic safety management principles to be followed, namely commitment to safety, safety priority, safety responsibility, planning for safety, safety management, safety standards, safety achievement, safety assurance and safety promotion.