Starr Aviation’s safety management system (SMS) implementation and compliance mentoring program is designed to assist companies make their SMS functional and effective. Starr Aviation (Booth No. 1746) is a division of Starr Indemnity and Liability and is based in Atlanta with locations in Scottsdale, Ariz. and Carpenteria, Calif.

The mentoring process begins with Starr safety and loss control experts interviewing clients and assessing their safety education and experience levels. Flight department safety managers receive one-on-one training sessions (in person or online) on a variety of SMS subjects.

Starr Aviation’s SMS mentoring team, which consists of certified safety professionals, introduces safety managers to risk management using materials such as the National Safety Council Aviation Ground Safety Handbook and an OSHA whitepaper on injury and illness prevention programs. These documents offer guidance on creating company safety policy statements, including the importance of a statement endorsed by senior managers.

The safety manager and Starr Aviation mentor examine sample policy statements and formulate one specific to the safety manager’s operation. At this point, mentor and manager discuss ways that management can demonstrate to employees that they are supporting their own safety policy statement. Because employee involvement is essential, the mentoring course is designed to educate the safety manager on how to get employees active in the program, including the importance of regular safety meetings.

The mentoring team shows managers how to create and achieve measurable safety performance goals, based on the motto: “What gets measured gets done! Every organization needs a target goal.” They evaluate sample safety goals from other organizations and assist managers in establishing relevant goals for their own companies.

Helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland uses Starr Aviation’s SMS mentoring services. “The expertise and mentoring from Starr’s team has been instrumental in the implementation of our SMS,” said Victoria Ridge, AgustaWestland commercial insurance and risk management specialist.

Chris Horton, flight operations manager for Guidance Aviation in Prescott, Ariz., a helicopter Part 141 flight school, said, “The guidance provided by [Starr Aviation’s] staff and evaluation of our safety initiatives is critical to the success of our safety system and, more importantly, to total safety and quality assurance.”