Driving airside safely

Image © New Mann Media Ltd www.newmannmedia.co.uk

Airside environments present a range of hazards, especially for drivers. A new DVD aims to raise awareness of the risks and the need for better training. Simon Harrison reports.

The IOSH Aviation and Aerospace Group has commissioned a new DVD titled Driving Airside Safely aimed at raising awareness of the hazards associated with driving airside and the need to implement a suitable airside driving permit scheme and training programme.

The airside environment presents a diverse range of hazards not encountered during ‘normal’ driving operations, together with the potential (through what may be perceived as minor incidents) to endanger aircraft and their crew and passengers. Furthermore, all vehicles, including specialist vehicles not found outside airside environs, have to be operated in close proximity to aircraft, pedestrians (crew, ground handlers and passengers) and fixed and mobile ground support equipment. Add in changing weather, day and night operations and very different ‘rules of the road’ and you can see that airside drivers must be competent to operate in such a dynamic environment.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has produced a number of documents to provide guidance on managing airside driving standards and safety at airports, the most recent being Civil Aviation Publication 790 (CAP 790) Requirement for an Airside Driving Permit (ADP) Scheme. This document sets out the requirement for an ADP scheme and provides guidance as to how that scheme should be managed. In addition, HSE has published HSG 136 Workplace Transport Safety and HSG 209 Aircraft Turnround (the phase of airside operations where arguably there is the greatest potential for risk involving the operation of vehicles airside).

Image © New Mann Media Ltd www.newmannmedia.co.uk

The latest accident and incident statistics published by HSE and CAA continue to show a significant percentage of airside events involve the operation of vehicles. These events range from vehicles coming into contact with aircraft and ground support equipment through to runway incursions (where a vehicle enters a runway without permission, thereby risking collision with an aircraft landing or taking off).

In an effort to raise awareness of the hazards and associated risks arising from operating and driving vehicles airside and the need to control those risks, the IOSH Aviation and Aerospace Group has produced the DVD in two parts. The first part of the DVD is aimed at employees (those who drive and operate the vehicles) and the second part at employers (those responsible for managing airside vehicles and airside driving standards).

The IOSH Aviation and Aerospace Group was keen to build upon the success of its previous DVD Airside Health and Safety Induction, which provided those working airside with basic health and safety information for working in an airside environment, and a more recent poster promotional campaign raising the awareness of the hazards and risks associated with aircraft turnaround operations.

Following input from industry, the CAA, HSE and IOSH members, a script was developed. It was during this development stage that it was decided that the DVD should be separated into two parts, one for employees and one for employers, as there were significant differences in the messages for each group.

Having agreed the scripts, the location for filming had to be chosen. The original intention was to shoot different scenes at a range of aerodromes in order to emphasise there were not only similar issues at aerodromes regardless of their size and complexity of operation, but also a variety of hazards and associated risks. In the end, due to logistical and time considerations, it was decided to stay with a single airport location but try and keep the background for the shot sequences as nondescript as possible.

Image © New Mann Media Ltd www.newmannmedia.co.uk

NewMann Media was engaged by the IOSH Aviation and Aerospace Group to carry out the filming and post production development work of the DVD. The company has extensive experience in producing training and awareness DVDs aimed at various audiences engaged in work in the airside environment.

After much deliberation and discussion it was decided to use Stansted Airport as the location for filming. The filming of the DVD was carried out in November 2014 in order to ensure that a range of weather conditions were captured that affect airside driving, as well as being able to shoot footage during daylight and the hours of darkness to show how an aerodrome’s appearance changes so much when the weather and/or light levels change.

The IOSH Aviation and Aerospace Group is planning to hold a specific event to launch the new Driving Airside Safely DVD in the next few months. The launch will be open to IOSH members and industry and will provide an overview of the new DVD. Copies of the DVD will be available from the event along with an opportunity to discuss and assist with any specific questions.

More information at: http://bit.ly/1KhDIDD

I’d like to thank Phil Sparham and Allison Irvin from Stansted Airport for their support on the airside driving DVD project.

Simon Harrison is a committee member on IOSH’s Aviation and Aerospace Group