Airport Risk Management - Health and Safety - Incident Investigation - Land Owner Responsibility
What Risk Related services does 'Aimm' provide?
Risk Management requires complete Movement Tracking and Reporting, and Airside Personnel Tracking, so that the Management can show they are considering all the activity. With over 99% detection of reporting of ALL movements 24 / 7 / 365, Aimm provides this and reports the data needed to:-- Pro-actively minimise risk
-- Take practicable steps to ensure the Health and Safety of Aviators, Staff, Contractors, and the Public
-- In event of an Incident, be able to investigate effectively and mitigate the possiblity of a recurrance
-- Have the hard evidence of these points in event of legal challenge
Airports have many specific dangers... turning propellors, landing aircraft, heavy machinery. Personnel need to be appropriately briefed before entering restricted areas, such as the runway or apron. To control this, the Airside Personnel Tracker records who was where, and when. The fact that they were issued with an entry code for the Tracker app on their mobile phone, is itself evidence that the airport takes airside safety seriously, has airside controls in place, and that there was an opportunity to brief personnel on the dangers and how to avoid them when issuing the one-time entry authorisation code.
At small Airfields, an Aero Club or local Operator often does a good job of looking after the day to day management. However, the ultimate responsibility, and Liablilty, lies with the owner of the Airport Land... who must be able to show that they were aware of changing levels of activity and that Aviation knowledgeable people had considered this and taken whatever steps were necessary to ensure ongoing Health and Safety.
Aerodromes (Airports and Airfields) have their own very specific set of regulations, and just 'Leaving it to the Club' is only adequate if the Land Owner can show they are supervising to make sure that 'The Club' is doing what it should.
"Aviation need not be dangerous, but is very unforgiving of mistakes."
How does AIMM gather and present the Data?
For EVERY movement (not just revenue generating movements), Aimm identifies: the time, date, the specific aircraft call sign or flight number, aircraft weight, type of aircraft, aircraft operator, type of movement (Takeoff / Landing / TnG), and runway or helipad approach in use. This data is reported in several different forms for different uses...
Part of the monthly 'Dashboard' reports that allow management to keep a 'watching brief' on activity.
Any major change will be immediately obvious and if the risk profile has changed, then they can mitigate that.
If an incident should occur, these reports are evidence that management were taking 'all practicable steps'
to remain fully up to date with the information on which to base their decisions.
DASHBOARD REPORT: The month's activity in graphical form for Managers and Board members, collating and summarising the numbers and types of aircraft (planes, helicopters, gliders etc), their weights, runway used, day or night, and day of week. Comparison graphs show numbers of movements year-on-year and year-to-date. From Aimm's Dashboard Report it is usually obvious if the movement types or volume have changed significantly, which would alert the Management/Board to review procedures to satisfy themselves that they are still appropriate. There are substantial benefits to the Directors/Supervisors to have an Airport Safety Committee with aviation-knowledgable representatives of each trype of airport user, to whom any change in activity can be referred for an expert opinion on any changes needed to airport procedures.
MOVEMENT / BILLING REPORT: A .CSV data file with the exact details of
every movement by time and date, identifying the aircraft registration,
weight, runway used, its operator with their full name and address from
the official register, flight number and
actual aircraft that flew the sector. Normally sent to the
accounts-receivable dept of the Airport to be importing into the Airport's
existing billing system for fully automated billing of Landing Fees.
These files can also be viewed in a spreadsheet to 'drill down' and identify who
is doing what, and when.
VOICE RADIO CALL and ADSB POSITION ARCHIVES: The achives are a valuable resource in event of an incident and have saved many airports from being 'held accountable' for incidents that their procedures did not cause. Aimm records ALL voice calls and ADSB positions... whether they generated a movement or were distant aircraft transitting the airspace and not landing. These can be retrieved for any period from the last few minutes back for at least three years. After a 'Loss of Separation' or other incident, different pilots sometimes have very different recollections of who said what, from where, at what time. Playing back the voice calls (which are timestamped to within two seconds) and plotting the ADSB positions (which show the positions to within two meters), usually enables the Safety Committee or Official Investigators to resolve the cause and make appropriate recommendations for preventing a recurrance.
Safety Committee?
There are many benefits for an Aerodrome in establishing a Safety Committee. From the smallest Private Airfield to the largest International Airport, there will be complaints, risks, and Incidents of greater or lesser importance. Ideally the Safety Committee should have from 6 to 12 members, with a representative from each main type of activity.... one Flying School person, one Recreational Pilot, one Skydiver or Glider pilot, one Engineer, one representative of the Airport Land owner, etc.They should meet occasionally to review the general operations and satisfy themselves that the procedures and equipment are still appropriate for the changing levels of each type of activity. Their aviation expertise will also be useful to the Aerodrome management for Regulatory Compliance.
The Safety Committee should have a special meeting if any incident occurs... to discuss, investigate and make recommend any changes to procedures or equipment thought necessary.
If the Safety Committee is made up of experts in various types of Aviation, their collective knowledge is available to the Airport Management. This is especially valuable for Council Airports if the Council Officer in Charge does not have an Aviation background themselves. The OiC can refer any requests, complaints or concerns to the Safety Committee for a recommendation and this in itself is evidence that they are taking 'practicable steps' to safeguard the pilots, contractors and public.
-- If the Safety Committee decides that nothing needs to be done, that is a complete response to an incident, with the Aviation Authorities and others knowing that the incident has been taken seriously and carefully considered by experts.
-- If the Safety Committee recommends changes to equipment, the OiC has this evidence that funding is needed to resolve a problem.
-- If they recommend changes to Operational Procedures for Aviators, the committee will know how to promulgate this information. Most Aviators will readily accept a recommendation from a expert committee of their peers, so it does not fall to the OiC to 'sell' an idea to a group of perhaps sceptical aviators.
Any significant change in the types and weights of aircraft using the Airport will change the risk profile, and this may
require a review of the Health-and-Safety procedures. The monthly 'Dashboard' Management Report draws attention to this.
What Costs and Benefits in having Aimm Reports for H&S?
The costs of Data Collection are minimal, and usually paid for several times over by better Landing Fee collection and other revenue possibiities made available by accurate and timely management information.The data tells the Airport Management and Board what activities are being carried out, when and by whom... to pro-actively manage the facilities and their risks. This will usually identify the risks that require mitigation, before an incident occurs. If an incident does occur, the same information is evidence that the Airport was taking due care, reduces the probability of litigation, and provides a defence if required.
How to know if Aimm will suit my Aerodrome?
Have a discussion with Aimm's senior management, who also operate their own airport and are very aware of the challenges and opportities that an Airport faces. If Aimm is a better solution than you are currently using, try it and see... Aimm does not require a committment or set length contract, and any Client can discontinue the system anytime without penalty. We get very few who do not continue and are always happy to have our system judged on its performance. Aimm can often provide a better service at around half the cost of older systems.
To discuss further, and get a quote for you Airport, Contact us