The former European Helicopter Safety Team (EHEST), now the European Safety Promotion Network Rotorcraft (ESPN-R), developed between 2010 and 2016 a series of manuals, guidelines, toolkits, checklists and videos on Safety Management System (SMS), most of them specifically aimed to assist small operators implement SMS. What is there for you in this EHEST SMS heritage? Are these tools still usable and for what purpose?
Who is who?
European Helicopter Safety Team (EHEST)
Created in 2017, the former European Helicopter Safety Team (EHEST) brought together manufacturers, operators, research organisations, regulators, accident investigators and a few military operators from across Europe. Co-chaired by EASA, Airbus Helicopters and the European Helicopter Association (EHA), EHEST was the helicopter branch of the European Strategic Safety Initiative (ESSI) closed in 2016, and the European component of the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), established as the International Helicopter Safety Foundation (IHSF) in 2020. EHEST was committed to the objective of reducing the helicopter accident rate by 80 percent by 2016 worldwide, with emphasis on improving European safety.
European Safety Promotion Network Rotorcraft (ESPN-R)
The European Safety Promotion Network Rotorcraft (ESPN-R) is a mixed industry-authorities team established in January 2017 under the patronage of the Rotorcraft Committee (R.COM), the committee of the Stakeholder Advisory Body (SAB) advising EASA on Rotorcraft matters.
The ESPN-R develops, disseminates and evaluates safety promotion material and actions on a voluntary basis in support of the R.COM, of EASA and of the industry. The ESPN-R can also contribute to safety promotion campaigns.
The ESPN-R contributes to the implementation of rotorcraft safety promotion actions from the European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS) Rotorcraft section and from the EASA Rotorcraft Safety Roadmap and can suggest Safety Promotion actions for inclusion in the EPAS or other considerations. Scope includes but is not limited to operations and Safety Management Systems, training and technologies with safety benefits.
The EHEST SMS Heritage
EHEST developed between 2010 and 2016 a series of manuals, guidelines, toolkits, checklists and videos on Safety Management System (SMS) mostly aimed to assist small operators implement SMS. We present them below and describe why they are of interest for you and what they can bring to you.
Mission Request Vade Mecum Toolkit
(Published 13 Jun 2017)
The Mission Request Vade Mecum was developed to help emergency front-line personnel to safely work in the proximity of helicopters. Police officers, firefighters, ambulance personnel and all personnel who may be involved in requesting and handling a helicopter mission will benefit from this tool.
A comprehensive document explains what information should be given to the helicopter pilot and describes how to set up the landing area. Together with the emergency dispatch centre, they can go through the R.O.M.A. checklist to quickly check all the required information and safety provisions. Finally, a ready-to-use Mission Request presentation can be tailored by a training organisation to spread the operational and safety knowledge to front-line personnel.
The Toolkit is available in English with translations in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Turkish and Korean by Airbus Helicopters here:
MARIA Risk Assessment Toolkit Request Vade Mecum Toolkit
(Published 1 Aug 2016)
The EHEST MARIA Risk Assessment Toolkit features a methodology and a database to support safety studies and keep track of hazards, risks and barriers. Safety studies are organised around causes, hazardous events (or hazards), consequences and safety barriers. Elements are linked together to describe cause-effect relations and orient action. MARIA functionalities include producing reports and exporting data to external databases and safety reports.
The Toolkit is available in English here:
Pre-departure Risk Assessment Checklist
(Published 1 Jul 2016)
This checklist is for pilots and technicians to evaluate the level of risk involved in a flight or maintenance activity. It is based on the PAVE (Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, External pressure) checklist and adapted for various types of flight: HEMS, leisure, training, passenger, etc.
The checklist allows pilots and technicians realise that simple factors, when combined, can raise the total risk significantly, eventually resulting in a situation where the helicopter should not flight unless some of the risk factors are mitigated.
The checklist is available in English here.
Safety Management Toolkit for Non-Complex Operators, 2nd Edition
(Published 1 Oct 2014)
This Safety Management Toolkit targets Complex Operators as defined in AMC1 ORO.GEN.200(b) Management System.
The toolkit for non-complex operators was developed with consideration of Annex III of the EU Regulation on Air Operations, Part ORO Subpart GEN Section II, ORO.GEN.200 Management System and the relevant AMCs and GM published in October 2012. It is specifically adapted to European operators and is particularly intended for Non-Complex operators with limited SMS experience. It contains a Safety Management Manual for non-complex operators: an example manual designed to assist small operators create their own Manual. The Manual contains explanatory notes and instructions formatted in italic. The Manual must be adapted to appropriately reflect the operator’s organisation, operations and specific needs and should not be applied ‘as it is’. The Manual for non-complex operators was developed based on the more comprehensive Manual for complex operators.
The toolkit for non-complex operators is available in English here:
This Manual is under currently (reference Oct 2020) under revision to develop the Compliance Management component and fully align with the ICAO Safety Management Manual (SMM) (Doc 9859), 4th edition. In the future, additional practical examples, templates, tools and toolkits will be added to the Manual. This material will be ready for use and customisation by small operators. Badged EASA, ESPN-R and Together4Safety, the new version is planned for publication in 2021.
Safety Management Toolkit for Complex Operators, 2nd Edition
(Published 10 May 2013)
This Safety Management Toolkit targets Complex Operators as defined in AMC1 ORO.GEN.200(b) Management System.
This Toolkit for complex operators was developed with consideration of Annex III of the EU Regulation on Air Operations, Part ORO Subpart GEN Section II, ORO.GEN.200 Management System and the relevant AMCs and GM published in October 2012. It is specifically adapted to European operators and is particularly intended for Complex operators with limited SMS experience.
Edition 2 was aligned to the European Management System rules, AMC and GM published in October 2012. It replaced Edition 1 published in August 2012, which was based on an advanced draft version of these rules, AMC and GM.
This Toolkit for complex operators contains and Emergency Response Plan (ERP) and is published in English here:
Helicopter Association International (HAI) SMS video
If you are a small operator and think that SMS is complex, difficult and costly to implement and remote from your daily experience of managing safety, watch this instructive 30-minute HAI video! This video presents in simple terms and through practical examples the principles of SMS and allows understand why and how it will benefit your business.
The video is available in English and Italian here:
ENAC produced the Italian version.
Additional SMS References
International Helicopter Safety Foundation (IHSF) SMS Toolkit
The International Helicopter Safety Foundation (ISHF) published various materials on SMS, including the IHSF SMS Toolkit, Editions 1 and 2. They also republished the EHEST SMMs for complex and non-complex operators for worldwide outreach.
Material is available in English here.
International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO)
The IHSF Safety Management Toolkits webpage also includes a reference to the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) developed by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). IHSF and EHEST experts adapted IS-BAO for helicopter operations so that you could use IS-BAO to implement SMS.
IS-BAO is available in English here.
Safety Management International Collaboration Group (SM-ICG)
The Safety Management International Collaboration Group (SM ICG) was founded by the FAA, EASA and Transport Canada and is a joint cooperation between many regulatory authorities for the purpose of promoting a common understanding of safety management, SMS and State Safety Program (SSP) principles and requirements, facilitating consistent implementation across the international aviation community.
Rich material, including safety promotion material, was published in English in the SKYbrary website SM ICG website. This material was primarily but not exclusively intended for NAA inspectors and managers and the SM-ICG website is continuously incremented.
SKYbrary Portal Safety Management
The SM-ICG website itself, is part of the even richer SKYbrary Portal Safety Management, primarily but not exclusively developed for Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) Safety Managers. Material is published in English and is accessible from the portal here.
EASA Community Operations
Articles and material addressing SMS is since 2020 published in the EASA Community Operations. Material is published in English and the website is continuously incremented.
National Aviation Authorities and Helicopter Associations
National Aviation Authorities (NAAs) and Helicopter Associations, such as European Helicopter Association (EHA), Helicopter Association International (HAI), Heli-Offshore and European HEMS & Ambulance Committee (EHAC), also publish guidance and can help you implement SMS. NAAs and national associations publish material in national languages and international associations publish material in English.
Safe flights!
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