Ground Support Worldwide - 27

Photo courtesy of UAS International Trip Support

anywhere, however, according to LeDuc, there
are things that management can do to control
the turnover, such as empowering the team to
identify ways to improve.
"One of the things that we found is very
helpful is to have an internal safety council
that finds potential issues with processes and
it is only made up of the frontline individuals
and of the first line supervisors that work with
the aircraft," LeDuc says. "When one realizes
that there are more opportunities to be able
to make changes, they are more engaged, and
they also feel like they made a difference. They
are also the ones who come up with a lot of
the best ideas."

INTERNATIONAL

"Safety is about having the understanding of the whole team engaged and not just
having a safety officer and a group of people
that are watching out for the safety officer.
Safety awareness is to be incorporated into
all of the processes. Everybody has got to
feel like they have got to invest interest into
ensuring that things go right from the very
top. It is important to have a combination
of the means of reporting and of rewards to
encourage people to be involved in the safety
process," says LeDuc.
"The UAS Africa team has a robust safety
awareness program where members of the
team are tasked with ensuring the entire team

is continuously up to date with safety regulations and guidelines provided in the company
SOP. Safety seminars are conducted regularly
through various means ensuring the team
understands the importance of the training
and how to effectively react in a live situation,"
say Kiige and Oricha.
"During operations, our station managers
are always mandated to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) provided by the company
and to ensure the handler staff use the same,"
they add. "High visibility jackets, safety shoes,
gloves for equipment operators and baggage
handlers are mandatory for all staff on ramp
during our operations."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mario Pierobon is a safety management consultant and content producer. He currently is working on a research project investigating aircraft ground handling safety.
You may reach him at marioprbn@gmail.com.

Role of Safety
In ground handling safety plays a significant
role at all levels.
"Any safety lapse can cause the loss of the
entire business while a good safety record is
a magnet for customers and investors. Most
importantly, a safety lapse can cause the loss
of lives. Companies must reinforce safety
awareness by ensuring mandatory periodical
safety training and a monitoring system that
ensures every staff member is trained at the
appropriate time," say Kiige and Oricha.
"There must also be a system to ensure the
quality and standard of the training conforms
with the industry recommendation," they continue. "The company needs to develop a safety
culture among staff so that it becomes part of
their psyche and a guiding light to everything
they do. This way the company develops a professional workforce."
Safety awareness can be reinforced as part
of personal development.

AviationPros.com/12390248

MAY 2020

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Ground Support Worldwide

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ground Support Worldwide