Ground Support Worldwide - 25

INTERNATIONAL

"It is important to be able to execute the
handling in a safe manner, to make sure that
aircraft handlers understand that all the services are clearly defined and that they make
it clear to the people that are involved in the
operation," adds Henry 'Duke' LeDuc, regional
operations manager at UAS. "It is also important to make sure that there is clear communication and understanding of both the operating
requirements and the regulations on the field."

Qualification of Handlers
At UAS, vendors of aircraft ground handling
services go through a qualification before being
placed on the list of preferred handlers at all
UAS locations.
"A physical audit of their capabilities, GSE
and records is carried out at their location
during the handling of a live flight. Their
track record is analyzed from authentic,
locally available information and confirmed
before they can be engaged. International certifications like ISAGO (IATA Safety Audit for
Ground Operations) are some of the priorities for qualification," say Kiige and Oricha.
"During normal operations, UAS station managers keep a keen eye on activities to observe
the level and quality of service. Any non-conformity noted is shared with the handler for
corrective action or reconsideration."
According to LeDuc, in Africa there is a
big disparity from one country to another in

relation to the level of training and of service
that is available.
"It is important for anybody who is going
to be operating in Africa to have somebody
who is familiar with operations on the field
and who is going to be capable of supervising,
such as a supervisory agent to work alongside
local operatives to make sure that they get the
quality and consistent delivery of services
as expected," he says. "It really varies very
widely between individual countries and it is
important to note that several countries have
monopolies and government run facilities,
which may make it hard to have the equipment and personnel standard in place to be
able to deliver."
UAS has supervisory agents located
throughout Africa.
"We are familiar with each of these countries' operations and we have got contacts
and the ability to help facilitate these types
of operations. They basically will go to the
location, assuming that they are not already
there, and they will work with the ground
handler to ensure that everything is in place,
so that the operator that goes there and uses
local suppliers had a good consistent delivery
of services," says LeDuc.

Best Practices
Kiige and Oricha believe that human resource
(HR) departments at ground handling service

providers should enforce a set of practices to
support professionalism in the workforce,
these include:
* Encouraging dialogue and consultation
within the workforce as opposed to topdown escalation of orders
* Ensuring workplace rules and regulations
are well documented and understood by the
workforce by making them easily available
and accessible
* Providing training and accessibility to
self-development protocols. This will
motivate staff and ensure they are up to
date with the best practices
* Regular and recurrent training in handling procedures. These are continuously
updated by IATA and staff need to be up
to date
* Regular and recurrent training in safety and
security awareness. Dangerous Goods Category 6 certification is a must for all ground
handling staff and must be renewed every
two years
* Displaying the company goals and objectives
clearly in areas where all staff can see and
internalize them
* Establishing a system to provide feedback
to staff on issues that may be of concern
to them
* Adopting corrective, rather than punitive,
measures in dealing with incidents and
accidents

Visions Beyond
2020
Lithium Ion Electric
(HTHV)

Cab Forward Electric
(HLE)

Coming Soon
Service
Utility
Vehicle
(SUV)

★ Sign into your account on our website and
access parts books, training and troubleshooting videos,
pictures and guides
★ Fresh design for our Transcon models - better visibility and comfort
★ Lithium electric APV and SUV

All Purpose Vehicle
(APV)

★ www.harlan-corp.com
★ +1-913-342-5650
★ sales@harlan-corp.com
AviationPros.com/10017401

MAY 2020

AviationPros.com

25
http://www.harlan-corp.com http://www.AviationPros.com/10017401 http://www.AviationPros.com
Ground Support Worldwide

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ground Support Worldwide
