Counter Terror Gazette

Security Management Systems:making the whole greater than the sum of its parts

15 Feb 2011

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recommended for several years that security management systems should be included in ICAO’s Annex 17. Airlines recognise the significant benefits to be gained and many have already implemented security management systems (SeMS) in their organisations. IATA believes that regulatory recognition of SeMS is long overdue, and in the long term, all industry stakeholders, including airlines, airports and state authorities could reap significant rewards, both operationally and financially. Günther Matschnigg describes how security management systems lay the foundation for performance based regulation and why it’s time to include the principles of SeMS in Annex 17. 

Every system is made up of smaller parts. Individually, these parts take some input, perform a task and produce an output. But in a complex system, all of those tasks need to be coordinated; they need to work together towards a common goal.  A Security Management System (SeMS) is an approach to aviation security that does just this. While regulations provide the individual components, SeMS brings it all together to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. SeMS defines a framework in which risks and threats are assessed, clear goals are set and polices and procedures are managed in an efficient and effective manner. It ensures that the individual security regulations and policies are fulfilled in a coordinated way and all components are working together. It integrates security processes and practices into day-to-day business practices to ensure security is built into every function in the business. 

This, in turn, leads to enhanced performance, lower costs and greater flexibility to anticipate and react to continually changing threats for air transport operators, regulators and other stakeholders who implement it. The benefits of management systems are already proven; implementation of Safety Management Systems (SMS) has had a dramatic impact in the way that all aspects of an organisation have a role to play in safety – it’s time to do the same for security. MORE ONLINE