CAA regulatory safety management system

Rationale

One of the keys of successful organisations, whether public or private, is a common understanding throughout the company of what is to be achieved and how it is to be done.

The Regulatory Safety Management System (RSMS) is the common system that provides a unified approach to all that we are trying to do in the CAA and which will ensure that each one of us understands our individual roles. It brings under a common system all the various aspects of the way in which we manage safety and gives each one of us the opportunity and tools to influence safety outcomes.

The purpose of the RSMS is to ensure that the aviation safety risks facing UK consumers and the public are being managed effectively and to provide assurance to the CAA Board that plans are in place to address those risks that are not being managed effectively.

Outcomes

• Intelligence is processed and exploited to best effect to create the risk picture necessary to effectively drive Performance Based Oversight (PBO) and other safety interventions.
• Data and information sharing between regulators, industry and stakeholders enriches the total risk picture and knowledge in order to target safety risk management effectively.
• Contribution to Better Regulation outcomes, for example RSMS, means regulation is effectively targeted.
• Making more informed decisions about the safety outcomes that we and industry should aim to deliver, in order to better manage oversight of the top safety risks.
• Visibility of actions required of different stakeholder groups in order to achieve safety outcomes.
• Directing regulatory resources proportionate to oversight activity and safety improvement projects that focus our attention on entities and sectors where either standards or not being upheld, or there is significant potential to enhance safety.
• Ensuring that CAA colleagues, industry and European/Global safety regulators are kept up to date on UK safety priorities and how they are being managed.
• Making sure all CAA colleagues understand the RSMS processes and decision making mechanisms, and how to make best use of them.
• Interface with CAA Horizon Scanning to capture emerging safety risks and engage with industry.

Actions

• Further develop and embed the RSMS governance structure and business processes to build an increasingly efficient and effective system. Implementation of Cranfield Review recommendations are central to this and are progressing well.
• Integrate the Entity Risk and Performance information generated by the PBO process into the RSMS via the Safety Risk Panels (SRPs) and support the development of a total system safety risk framework to host a consolidated picture of safety risk. This framework will enable easier analysis by safety intelligence and provision of actionable safety insights upwards to the Safety Leadership Group (SLG), CAA Board and the State Safety Programme. It will also offer actionable safety insight downwards towards the regulated aviation entities. Finally, the framework will also integrate with and inform SSP Safety Performance Indicators.
• Support the development and integration of the Safety Risk Panels (chaired by Heads of Capability), Safety Review Committee (chaired by the Group Director Safety and Airspace Regulation Group (SARG)) and Safety Leadership Group (chaired by the Chief Executive), and, together with SARG's Safety & Business Assurance offer independent challenge and scrutiny as they build towards effectiveness. Engage with the Horizon Scanning team to establish the transition method from strategic to tactical risk topics.
• Ensure the outputs of the RSMS are integrated at the right levels within Business Management, the CAA Safety Plan and State Safety Programme.

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