58 RAMP SAFETY BRIEFING


GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL FEBRUARY 2013 People power


In this issue, Morten Kjellesvig* of ScandiAvia, examines a handling company’s greatest asset: its staff.


he management of airlines and ground operators are these days more concerned with cost reduction


than they were just five years ago. This is natural since aviation has become a lot more cost-effective as a result of the outsourcing and low cost carrier entry into the market. But what impact will it have on the aviation industry - and will flight or ground safety be sacrificed? The use of the term human factors in aviation maintenance engineering is relatively new. Accidents like the Aloha (B-737 decompression) in Hawaii in 1988 and the BAC 1-11 windscreen accident in the UK in 1990 put the focus on human factor issues. These accidents were merely the trigger that drew attention towards the subject of human factors. In airlines, this started back in the 1980s with the introduction of CRM (Crew Resource Management) training; and looking at the accident record since then, there has been a massive reduction in accidents per 1m departures from 1979 up to now. Culture is always a big issue when it comes to human factors, and many airlines now address the subject of Just Culture, which can be explained by the management setting the standard and holding personnel accountable for it. Of necessity, the employee must then know the standard and follow it. If all these conditions are met, in general, safety should be handled well in the organisation. The challenge is when management tends to follow personnel who have not performed properly and want to punish them. That is when reporting tends to stagnate or stop, because employees are simply afraid of the consequences of reporting. Airside safety is very important and for most of the airlines, it is here the big money is spent: in other words, the incidence of ground accidents. Airside safety includes ramp safety, ground safety and apron safety which are all linked together. Ramp safety is not only about aircraft and vehicles: it is more important about you as a worker and how you perform. For example, do you know the company’s safety policy? Do you understand human factors? Do you know about the airport rules and regulations? Do you know the dangers in relation to jet-blast and sucking? Do you wear personal protection? And finally, do you report incidents and accidents from which


others can learn? All of these elements are important in order to avoid ramp and ground incidents and all of us working on the ramp have to take a personal pride in being a professional worker. It is worth noting here that there are some important elements that are very often present when we have ground incidents.


Time pressure


There is no doubt that this is an important issue, but how well do you handle it? Are you aware and alert so that time pressure will not prevent you from doing your work properly or sufficiently? As a human in the organisation, we want you to know and follow the set standards. Sometimes that means taking the time to do the job properly.


Increased production


This leads to more work, tighter schedules, more aircraft to handle which again leads to lots of other challenges. Again, it is the worker who needs to have the standard and follow it.


Congestion at airports


This, too, leads us to being more alert, and maybe driving more slowly, since we have a tighter workspace and more crowded areas. We can make as many rules and regulations as we want but in the end it is the worker who follows and takes care and who has pride in his work that matters.


Low status for ramp staff


This is something I hear often but with which I strongly disagree. The concept of low status is mainly influenced by the salary and there should not be a lower standard for a low status employee when compared with others. A sufficient training programme, adequate supervision and follow-up should lead to the standard we want.


Standards


This comes back to the topic of Just Culture. Management needs to set a clear standard and emphasise it, so that everybody understands it - and then hold all of us accountable for it. We as workers must know the standard and


follow it: in other words we need to be professional!


Training


Whenever we are set to work around an aircraft there will be a training programme. In many cases, after an incident with some kind of loss, there will be emphasis put on training. In the ideal world, training should be there in advance so we can prevent the incident from happening.


So, back to my question: will flight or


ground safety be sacrificed? In my opinion, it all depends upon you. Most often there are procedures in place, training conducted and equipment sufficient to do the job, so it all comes back to the worker. How do you perform, what are your standards and do you follow them? Your own attitude and standard sets a standard for your professionalism and hopefully others around you.


So, good luck out there and


remember that you can make a difference: it is all up to you.


Uniformity – the Holy Grail of handling?


The intention of the IATA Ground Operations Manual (IGOM) is to standardise ground handling procedures for each aircraft type, regardless of individual operators, writes Norm Hogwood. This will virtually eliminate any confusion likely to be created when handling organisations are contracted to service different airlines operating that type - and should be a much-needed enhancement for ramp safety. A typical example of the sort of confusion which can be caused by a lack of standard procedures happened when Air New Zealand and Qantas each introduced the B767-200 on trans-Tasman services. The problem revolved around the opening of the passenger door. The opening of this door is carried


out by releasing and raising the external operating lever, or by releasing and lifting the internal lever. During normal operations, the opening of most, if not all, widebody aircraft is the responsibility of


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