Effective Implementation of State Safety Oversight System (SOS)

Member States should establish and implement an effective State Safety Oversight (SSO) system to continuously improve and monitor all of their aviation functions. Essentially, there are eight SSO system Critical Elements (CEs) that constitute the foundation of a State Safety Programme (SSP).

To ensure a State's progress and Effective Implementation (EI) of the Safety Oversight System (SOS), the ICAO maintains a Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) under the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) to measure the EI of a State’s SOS.

The USOAP CMA has established eight audit criteria areas based on the safety-related ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) established in the Annexes to the Chicago Convention, Procedures for Air Navigation Services (PANS) and ICAO guidance material.

The eight USOAP audit areas comprise:

1. primary aviation legislation and civil aviation regulations (LEG);
2. civil aviation organization (ORG);
3. personnel licensing and training (PEL);
4. aircraft operations (OPS);
5. airworthiness of aircraft (AIR);
6. aircraft accident and incident investigation (AIG);
7. air navigation services (ANS); and,
8. aerodromes and ground aids (AGA).

The audit areas are further divided into eight 'Critical Elements (CEs), comprising:

primary aviation legislation (CE-1);

1. specific operation regulations (CE-2);
2. State system and functions (CE-3)
3. qualified technical personnel (CE-4);
4. technical guidance, tools, provisions of safety-critical information (CE-5);
5. licensing, certification, authorization and/or approval obligations (CE-6);
6. surveillance obligations (CE-7); and,
7. resolution of safety issues (CE-8).