Seamless Safety Integration

Welcome back to Jump Seat. Today, we will discuss the safety products that ARINCDirect provides to simplify your operation. Flight safety is key to operating a successful flight department. ARINCDirect offers several tools and services to assist you with your safety efforts, including a Flight Risk Assessment Template (FRAT) and Polaris Aero’s solutions such as FlightRisk® and VOCUS SMS.

VOCUS  

VOCUS is Polaris Aero’s platform used to access various safety applications. A dashboard view allows you to see what products are available under your subscription level. These products can be accessed directly from our Izon platform using single sign-on (SSO) capabilities or via the ARINCDirect website under the Safety Tab. Two products we will address here are FlightRisk and VOCUS SMS.  

The Front End – FlightRisk Report 

FlightRisk  

• FlightRisk is a next-generation risk assessment system that solves the problem of information overload by automatically identifying the hazards and risk mitigation procedures that are most relevant to a flight. Unlike subjective hazard scoring systems (i.e., FRATs), FlightRisk is objective: it is based on published regulations, rules, and procedures. FlightRisk goes beyond compliance; it helps facilitate action! 

FlightRisk Report Configuration 

• FlightRisk reports can be generated automatically with every ARINCDirect flight plan. To generate a report, check either the “FlightRisk Summary” or “FlightRisk Detailed” checkbox on the Flight Planning – Create FPL page. These reports are customizable. While Advisories and Risk Ratings will always be displayed, users can choose to include – or not include – other elements of the report (e.g., NOTAMs, TFRs, Runway Report). These reports can be configured in the FlightRisk Setup section of the VOCUS application. 

FlightRisk Advisories 

• FlightRisk Advisories are warning messages that are displayed in the pre-flight assessment output report. They are created using a custom-rules engine and are based on regulations and other safety publications. There are three types of advisories: STOP, CAUTION, and INFORMATIONAL. 
• STOP Advisories warn users that a limit will be exceeded.  
• CAUTION Advisories warn users that a limit could be exceeded, and that risk mitigation is required.  
• INFORMATIONAL Advisories provide pilots with helpful information.  

Risk Ratings 

• Risk Ratings are community-based advisories. These advisories are captured via short post-flight surveys and are organized by phase of flight. They are a great way for pilots to share their knowledge of airfield hazards with other pilots.  

The Back End – Notifications, Acknowledgements, Custom Rules, and Insights 

The following features are setup by Administrators within the VOCUS application.   

• Custom Advisories - Users can create their own advisories in FlightRisk. These advisories can be based on company-specific policies and procedures (e.g., Operations Manual). This is a great way to ensure your organization never forgets a lesson learned! 
• Notifications - Notifications are a great way to ensure everyone is situationally aware of the hazards being encountered. They are automatically generated by a specific advisory or by hazard severity. When a notification is triggered, an email is sent to a pre-selected person (or group). 
• Acknowledgments - An Acknowledgement is a way to ensure higher-risk flights are reviewed at the appropriate level. They can be set by based on the type of advisory (i.e., Stop, Yield).  
• Insights - View detailed information about risk assessment history, hazard frequency, advisory severity, and more. 

Figure 1: Sample FlightRisk form

VOCUS SMS  

VOCUS SMS is an advanced safety management software system that facilitates compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). It not only helps improve safety; it also helps improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your entire organization. 

VOCUS SMS utilizes advanced technology and design concepts to simplify the complexity of safety management. Instead of focusing on simple data collection, VOCUS SMS focuses on transforming safety data into actionable insights. 

VOCUS Key Elements: 

• Accessible Anywhere - via desktop, iOS, and Android devices. 
• Universal Participation – QR codes allow non-employees to file safety reports. 
• Seamless Data Syncing – Automatically syncs data with other sources (FlightRisk, Flight Data Monitoring, FAA ASAP). 
• Investigation Wizard – wizard-based root cause analysis simplifies the investigation process. 
• Advanced Taxonomy – provides a framework for classifying hazards and causal factors. 
• Audit Tools – Streamlines and simplifies the audit process. 
• Safety Insights – interactive charts and graphs are automatically generated based on information from investigations and audits. 

VOCUS SMS is a subscription-based service that is accessible via the ARINCDirect website (Safety tab) and Izon. To learn more about the VOCUS Platform, visit their website.

ARINCDirect FRAT  

ARINCDirect's Flight Risk Assessment Template, or FRAT, is the original product housed on our website. As a numbers-based template, it can automatically score smart risk factors (usually associated with airport information) and manually score all other risk factors when applied to a flight plan. If you would like more information, contact our 24x7 Flight Operations team at +1 410-266-2266. 

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