This introductory booklet was written by the staff of the Safety Services Branch of Transport Canada Civil Aviation with help from the Headquarters and Regional staff of Transport Canada Civil Aviation. The material has been condensed from a variety of sources.

Transport Canada wishes, particularly, to thank Professor James Reason of the University of Manchester for inspiring and assisting Transport Canada in developing the concept and application of a safety management systems approach for the Canadian aviation industry.

Transport Canada thanks the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia (CASA) for allowing us to use material developed by CASA for the Australian context. Parts of this booklet are adaptations of CASA's Aviation Safety Management: An Operators Guide to Building a Safety Program. Granting this permission saved Transport Canada significant time and resources in the development of this publication.