Course Title: Safety Management Systems in Transport Organisations
Part A: Course Overview
Course Title: Safety Management Systems in Transport Organisations
Credit Points: 12.00
Course Coordinator: Jose Silva
Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 8019
Course Coordinator Email: jose.silva@rmit.edu.au
Course Coordinator Location: B57.03.029
Course Coordinator Availability: by appointment
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
Assumed Knowledge
It is assumed you have a general understanding of aviation, rail and marine transport systems, and some knowledge on Human Factors in line with the learning outcomes of OENG1200 (Human Factors for Investigators).
Course Description
Safety Management Systems (SMS) constitute an integral part of contemporary transport organisations’ approach to a systematic, comprehensive and explicit management of safety risks. In this course, you will learn the underpinning concepts of Safety Management Systems applicable to aviation, rail and marine transport systems, including both the regulatory provisions set forth by regulators and the requirements that should be incorporated by service providers in line with their organisational contexts.
In the first part of this course, you will learn how an SMS should be designed and implemented, including setting an overarching safety policy and corresponding objectives. A range of topics will be addressed to provide you with the knowledge and skills to apply some of the key functions within an SMS, including principles of risk management, analysis of safety data, internal auditing and safety culture and the interrelationship between an SMS and other systems which may be present in the organisation (e.g., QMS, WHS).
In the second part of the course, a special emphasis will be put into how to investigate elements of an SMS as part of an incident or accident investigation. Selected case-studies and examples specific to incidents/accidents in rail, marine and aviation will be analysed with a view to interrogate the organisational deficiencies from an SMS perspective, and how conclusions thereof may assist transport professionals to implement actions to improve the effectiveness of SMS.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
This course contributes to the following Program Learning Outcomes for the Graduate Diploma in Transport Safety Investigation:
- Describe, investigate and analyse complex systems and associated issues (using systems thinking and modelling techniques)
- Explain legal, social, economic, ethical and environmental interests, values, requirements and expectations of key stakeholders
- Identify and assess risks (including OH&S) as well as the economic, social and environmental impacts of industry activities
- Demonstrate the consequences of intended action or inaction and understand how the consequences are managed collectively by your organisation, project or team
- Develop and operate within a hazard and risk framework appropriate to industry activities
- Initiate, plan, lead or manage industry activities
- Understand the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of contemporary industry practice in the specific discipline
- Apply systematic approaches to the conduct and management of industry projects
- Communicate in a variety of different ways to collaborate with other people, including accurate listening, reading and comprehension, based on dialogue when appropriate, taking into account the knowledge, expectations, requirements, interests, terminology and language of the intended audience
- Apply a personal sense of responsibility for your work
- Demonstrate orderly management of self, and professional conduct
For more information on the program learning outcomes for your program, please see the program guide.
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate professional understanding of how safety management systems are structured in line with the provisions set forth by regulators in aviation, rail and marine sectors;
- Explain good practices for designing, implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of an SMS;
- Identify hazards and assess associated risks as part of the risk management approach within an SMS;
- Explain good practices for measuring safety performance and interpret safety performance data;
- Identify relevant evidence for examining safety management systems during safety investigations and interpret the obtained evidence in context.
Overview of Learning Activities
You will be actively engaged in a range of learning activities such as lectorials, tutorials, practicals, laboratories, seminars, project work, class discussion, individual and group activities. Delivery may be face-to-face, online or a mix of both. As a complementary form of acquisition of knowledge in the different topics, students will be exposed to practical activities replicating real industry scenarios by resorting to selected case-studies and/or techniques/procedures identical to those used in a real working context.
You are encouraged to be proactive and self-directed in your learning, asking questions of your lecturer and/or peers and seeking out information as required, especially from the numerous sources available through the RMIT library, andthrough links and material specific to this course that is available through myRMIT Studies Course.
Some topics will require students to review the course material prior to the lecture, then allowing more time for group discussions, presentations and analysis of selected cases.
This course includes a Work Integrated Learning experience in which your knowledge and skills will be applied and assessed in a real or simulated workplace context and where feedback from industry and/or community is integral to your experience. Examples include:
- industry presentations and panels
- simulations and role plays using industry case studies and processes
Overview of Learning Resources
RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through myRMIT Studies Course.
There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal.
Overview of Assessment
This course has no hurdle requirements.
Assessment Task 1: MCQ Quiz #1 (in-class)
Weighting 20%
This assessment task supports CLOs: 1 and 2
Assessment Task 2: Short Answer Quiz #2 (in-class)
Weighting 30%
This assessment task supports CLOs: 3 and 4
Assessment Task 3: Assignment with report submission
Weighting 50%
This assessment task supports CLOs: 1 - 5