23 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 5.23 

(3) Safety assurance in accordance 

with the requirements of subpart D of 
this part; and 

(4) Safety promotion in accordance 

with the requirements of subpart E of 
this part. 

(b) The Safety Management System 

must be maintained in accordance with 
the recordkeeping requirements in sub-
part F of this part. 

(c) The Safety Management System 

must ensure compliance with the rel-
evant regulatory standards in chapter I 
of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regu-
lations. 

§ 5.5

Definitions. 

Hazard  means a condition that could 

foreseeably cause or contribute to an 
aircraft accident as defined in 49 CFR 
830.2. 

Risk  means the composite of pre-

dicted severity and likelihood of the 
potential effect of a hazard. 

Risk control means a means to reduce 

or eliminate the effects of hazards. 

Safety assurance means processes 

within the SMS that function system-
atically to ensure the performance and 
effectiveness of safety risk controls 
and that the organization meets or ex-
ceeds its safety objectives through the 
collection, analysis, and assessment of 
information. 

Safety Management System (SMS) 

means the formal, top-down, organiza-
tion-wide approach to managing safety 
risk and assuring the effectiveness of 
safety risk controls. It includes sys-
tematic procedures, practices, and poli-
cies for the management of safety risk. 

Safety objective means a measurable 

goal or desirable outcome related to 
safety. 

Safety performance means realized or 

actual safety accomplishment relative 
to the organization’s safety objectives. 

Safety policy means the certificate 

holder’s documented commitment to 
safety, which defines its safety objec-
tives and the accountabilities and re-
sponsibilities of its employees in re-
gards to safety. 

Safety promotion means a combina-

tion of training and communication of 
safety information to support the im-
plementation and operation of an SMS 
in an organization. 

Safety Risk Management means a proc-

ess within the SMS composed of de-
scribing the system, identifying the 
hazards, and analyzing, assessing and 
controlling risk. 

Subpart B—Safety Policy 

§ 5.21

Safety policy. 

(a) The certificate holder must have 

a safety policy that includes at least 
the following: 

(1) The safety objectives of the cer-

tificate holder. 

(2) A commitment of the certificate 

holder to fulfill the organization’s safe-
ty objectives. 

(3) A clear statement about the pro-

vision of the necessary resources for 
the implementation of the SMS. 

(4) A safety reporting policy that de-

fines requirements for employee re-
porting of safety hazards or issues. 

(5) A policy that defines unacceptable 

behavior and conditions for discipli-
nary action. 

(6) An emergency response plan that 

provides for the safe transition from 
normal to emergency operations in ac-
cordance with the requirements of 
§ 5.27. 

(b) The safety policy must be signed 

by the accountable executive described 
in § 5.25. 

(c) The safety policy must be docu-

mented and communicated throughout 
the certificate holder’s organization. 

(d) The safety policy must be regu-

larly reviewed by the accountable exec-
utive to ensure it remains relevant and 
appropriate to the certificate holder. 

§ 5.23

Safety accountability and au-

thority. 

(a) The certificate holder must define 

accountability for safety within the or-
ganization’s safety policy for the fol-
lowing individuals: 

(1) Accountable executive, as de-

scribed in § 5.25. 

(2) All members of management in 

regard to developing, implementing, 
and maintaining SMS processes within 
their area of responsibility, including, 
but not limited to: 

(i) Hazard identification and safety 

risk assessment. 

(ii) Assuring the effectiveness of safe-

ty risk controls. 

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