ABSTRACT
Even though it is still presented as a step change in safety, at least in aviation, the SMS as currently practiced has a number of limitations as a safety enhancement approach (as developed in Chapter 4). Yet it fulfills numerous other functions that reach far beyond the safety purpose per se. These findings lead to a number of reflections and open several avenues to move forward. This chapter will present and discuss three proposals, ranging from an evolution of the SMS to a significant change in the way safety would be considered. The first proposal, an evolutionary one, builds on the existing SMS and reaches beyond some of the identified limitations while keeping the current foundations, especially the focus on risk management and the hierarchical control model. It mainly consists of suggesting several improvements to the risk management approach. The second proposal broadens the understanding of safety beyond the management of risks. It involves revisiting the foundations of safety management, especially acknowledging uncertainty and contingencies. Such a new framework calls for a number of changes at many different levels: conceptual, methodological, practical, and governance. Indeed, acknowledging that uncertainty is inevitable requires one to shift from an a priori hierarchical control model to other approaches allowing for living with such uncertainty. The third proposal consists of adopting a wider perspective—that is, to put safety back in context and to address it more appropriately. Considering safety as one among many interrelated stakes also calls for different concepts, methods, practices, and governance approaches. It especially involves a more transverse approach and an acknowledgment that all might not be easily apprehended through a set of indicators dedicated to each organizational stake. The conditions for such an evolution will be discussed in the light of an understanding of safety as coupled with a broad context.
