ICAO SMS Tools

There are now three editions to ICAO SMS manuals. Immediately below, you will find a link to the most recent 2012 ICAO SMS manual, which is the advance edition. When people talk about the ICAO SMS manual, they refer to Document 9859, or simply "doc 9859." Other people simply call the ICAO SMS manual "9859," "Document 9859," or very commonly "ICAO Doc 9859."

Link to ICAO Document 9859 Advance Version.

We don't provide a link to the first or second editions of the ICAO SMS manual that was created in 2006 and 2009 respectively, called "Safety Management Manual (SMM)" because you should use the latest 2012 ICAO SMS manual, which is version 3. For all practical purposes, the changes are not dramatic across ICAO SMS manual versions, so don't feel overwhelmed or underwhelmed when you compare the three ICAO SMS manuals.

When you read the ICAO SMS manual and compare it to SMS Pro™, you will recognize that SMS Pro is the most complete, best software solution that covers the ICAO SMS requirements. When SMS Pro™ was created, we focused on ICAO requirements. Independent consultants, time and again report that SMS Pro™ is the best aviation SMS software solution because:

• Best customer service;
• Most complete aviation SMS solution;
• Flexible to fit different aviation organizations (instead of having the organization fit the SMS software);
• Customizable; and
• Best value (price vs functionality) for aviation safety SMS software for ICAO SMS requirements.

The beginning of ICAO SMS as a regulation came with: "As of November 23, 2006 States shall require, as part of their safety programme, that an [operator, maintenance organization, ATS provider, certified aerodrome] implements a safety management system (SMS) accepted by the State that, as a minimum:

• Identifies safety hazards.
• Ensures that remedial action necessary to maintain an acceptable level of safety is implemented.
• Provides for continuous monitoring and regular assessment of the safety level achieved.
• Aims to make continuous improvement to the overall level of safety."

ICAO SMS requires that aviation service providers are responsible for implementing an aviation Safety Management System (SMS) in accordance with Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) contained in ICAO Annex 6 — Operation of Aircraft, Part I — International Commercial Air Transport — Aeroplanes, and Part III — International Operations — Helicopters, ICAO Annex 11 — Air Traffic Services, and ICAO Annex 14 — Aerodromes, Volume I — Aerodrome Design and Operations.

ICAO SMS regulations are not being followed in every country as of 2012. The United States, be a democracy, has been debating and arguing about the implementation of an ICAO SMS.

To learn more about ICAO SMS requirements, we strongly recommend ICAO SMS manual, commonly referred to document 9859. This ICAO SMS manual is a very easy read and has tremendous amounts of useful information. The reading level of this ICAO SMS reference document is not difficult. You can find the ICAO SMS manual on this Web site under Safety Management PDFs.

After the ICAO SMS regulations came out, aviation service providers struggled to find or create tools to satisfy the ICAO SMS requirements. This is why SMS Pro™ was developed. SMS Pro™ was the first Web based software solution to satisfy the ICAO SMS requirements. SMS Pro™ was developed by a software programming company in Anchorage, Alaska that specializes in Web based solutions.

More links below will direct you to more information about aviation SMS software tools to manage ICAO SMS requirements.