How does a Safety Management System interface with AMQS activities?

• A. SMS identifies hazards, assesses risk, and implements mitigations; AMQS uses this input to shape maintenance planning, procedures, and nonconformity/CAPA processes.
• B. AMQS controls all hazards without SMS input.
• C. SMS only documents incidents; it does not affect AMQS.
• D. AMQS provides data to SMS but SMS does not influence planning.

Answer: (A)

Safety management relies on identifying hazards, evaluating risk, and applying mitigations, and AMQS uses that information to shape maintenance planning, procedures, and how nonconformities and corrective/preventive actions are handled. In practice, the SMS provides a proactive risk picture—hazards spotted, risks assessed, and mitigations implemented—which then informs how maintenance work is scheduled, what procedures are written or updated, and how nonconformities are tracked and resolved through CAPA. This ensures maintenance activities reflect current risk controls and that any safety issues found through AMQS are fed back into the SMS for ongoing improvement. The other options fail because they either imply SMS acts only on incidents, or that AMQS operates without SMS input, or that the relationship is one-way rather than bidirectional.