Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
This training note is intended to provide information to students attending RFFS Supervisor courses on
the subject of Aerodrome Safety as relevant to the Rescue and Firefighting Services (RFFS) employed at
airports. This training note should be read in conjunction with CAP 700, CAP 642 and CAP 748.
AIM
The aim of this training note is to outline some of the safety related guidance that is specific to aerodrome
operations.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the instructional session dealing with this subject, and after studying this training note and
the associated CAPs, you will be able to:
Some hazards, such as runway incursions and refuelling operations are obvious. Others may not,
to untrained people, be quite so apparent. These could include hazards arising from work in
progress where multiple tasks are undertaken in close proximity to each other by workers from
different organisations, or hazards that only arise at certain times of the year such as fog, ice or
snow.
What is not obvious, regardless of the hazard, is what to do about them. The aerodrome licensee
has a duty to ensure that the operations that take place at the aerodrome are done so as safely as
practicable.
As some of the hazards cannot be removed, the level of risk arising from them must be reduced to
acceptable levels. This is normally achieved by having
Procedures
Equipment
Controls
Education and Training
Competent staff at all levels
Emergency plans
Audit and reviews
Positive safety culture
Both the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Aerodrome
Standards Department (ASD) have been charged with ensuring that a regulatory framework exists
to ensure that aerodromes are safe. Both organisations recognise the possibility of some
duplication. In order to foster close liaison, to minimise duplication and to provide clarity to
licensees about areas of responsibility, a memorandum of understanding has been produced.
This note concerns itself more with the safety guidance issued by the CAA, in particular:
CAP 700 Operational Safety Competences
A UK Code of Practice
CAP 642 Airside Safety Management
CAP 748 Aircraft Fuelling and Fuel Installation Management
Not all of the tasks listed will be appropriate or necessary for all aerodromes, an issue of
particular interest to the smaller aerodromes.
Not all of the areas of competence have to be vested in one person, an issue of particular interest
to the larger aerodromes.
Be satisfied that persons within the management structure possess the relevant operational
safety competence.
Identify the post and person that have accountability for a specific task.
Identify gaps that may exist in the areas of competence for their particular aerodrome.
Develop job specifications, and in recruitment and succession planning, provide for aerodrome
licensing purposes the safety assurance sought by the CAA.
Although not all of these have relevance to the RFFS, there are many areas where the competence
applies, either wholly or in part, such as Risk Assessment and Airside Vehicle Operations. It is the
responsibility of the aerodrome licensee to identify which post has responsibility in which area and to
ensure that the post holder has sufficient experience and background knowledge to be considered
competent.
Area 19 Rescue and Firefighting has been reproduced (see Appendix A) as an indication of the layout
of each area of competence. CAP 700 can be accessed in full at www.caa.co.uk
CAP 642
ORIGIN
CAP 642 has been produced in response to a need for guidance about safe operating practices for all
those engaged in activities taking place on the airside areas of airports and aerodromes. The airline and
airport industry and their safety regulators have been concerned about the level and extent of damage
caused to aircraft during ground handling and also about the high rate of occurrences and the
associated safety risks for aircraft, passengers and airport workers. This concern is shared
internationally by various groups and organisations. With the support of industry and the UK Health and
Safety Executive (HSE), the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) established a joint Working Group (WG) to
look at specific issues concerning aircraft and individual safety in the ground handling phase of airport
operations. This move was in accordance, generally, with the views of the UKs Air Accident Investigation
Branch. The WG set itself the task of reviewing ground handling airside operations and airside safety
with the objective of seeking to identify problems and solutions.
The WG decided firstly that it had to work closely with industry in order to use the experience, expertise
and imagination of those working hands on in airside operations and, secondly, that it should collect a
comprehensive range of opinions from industry about the underlying causes of problems before
attempting to develop solutions. The WG consulted widely amongst the various intere3st groups
concerned directly and indirectly with safety in airside operations. The task of the WG was to order the
information so gained into suitable topic areas and then to submit each topic package to a formal industry
consultation process for approval and comment before acceptance.
The resultant document is the creation of the whole industry and has the acceptance of the regulatory
authorities responsible for overseeing the safety of aircraft and individuals on airports.
PURPOSE
The advice and guidance in CAP 642 is best described as Accepted Good Practice and
represents an acceptable way of doing things. It illustrates how risks might be identified and
provides advice about how airside safety can be placed within the context of a systematic and
structured management approach a Safety Management System.
It is impossible to guarantee that adherence to CAP 642 will always satisfy all regulatory
requirements under all possible circumstances. This is simply because service providers
themselves are ultimately responsible for deciding on the appropriateness and applicability of any
particular safety arrangements with respect to their own specific circumstances.
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CAP 642 illustrates the sort of things which organisations are expected to consider in the
interests of airside safety; it is not intended to be totally comprehensive in the detail provided.
CAP 642 does not absolve those responsible for securing a safe operating and working
environment from thinking for themselves. It indicates the safety organisational elements which,
if provided, will help persuade regulatory bodies that the effort to discharge safety
accountabilities under the law is effective, well directed and responsible.
Nevertheless, the compilers of CAP 642 have sought to give good coverage to those operational
situations which contain elements of risk and which might be considered commonplace. For a
number of these, the document provides practical examples, through a series of model safety
instructions, which can be utilised by airports as the basis for their own orders and instructions.
Where examples are not provided or material to cover a particular situation is not included it is expected
that users will be guided by the general principles set out and illustrated in order to identify and create the
circumstances of a safe working and operating environment appropriate to their own requirements.
APPLICABILITY
CAP 642 is intended as a guide to accepted practice for all those engaged in working on and around the
operational areas of airports, aerodromes or heliports: in fact, anywhere where aircraft are attended and
handled. That is, it applies to everybody working airside. Whilst CAP 642 is primarily aimed at Licensed
Aerodromes, it is equally applicable in most cases to Unlicensed Aerodromes. In these cases the term
Aerodrome Licensee should be read a Person in charge of the aerodrome. Any organisation,
regardless of size or complexity of operation, can establish an acceptable Safety Management System
through the application of the general principles outlined in the following Parts of CAP 642.
THE STATUS OF CAP 642
CAP 642 is not a legal document but represents an accepted way or organising and operating safe
working practices and which is endorsed by Industry. The CAA, as part of the ongoing aerodrome
licensing process, in conducting its routine inspections and audits of the airside safety
environment will lean heavily on these guidelines. The CAA, with endorsement from the HSE,
makes it clear that the general principles, processes and procedures set out within CAP 642 form
the basis of acceptable safety arrangements airside. It is accepted that the principle of an
equivalent level of safety that is the achievement of a safe operating regime by a method other
than that recommended is an acceptable means of compliance with statutory responsibilities.
Parts 1 and 2 of CAP 642 stem directly from legislation protecting workers and members of the public
affected by work activities. The legislation frequently requires employers to take certain actions but that
requirement is often qualified by the phrase so far as is reasonably practicable. This basically means
that the action taken must allow for the amount of risk placed on one side of the scale and the sacrifice
(money, time, trouble) needed to avert the risk on the other side of the scale. In other instances there
may be a duty on employers to undertake an assessment and then take the action identified by the
assessment. It is also necessary to ensure that the action taken is proportional to the risk.
In Parts 3-7 (of CAP 642) there are references to requirements that are3 additional to the requirements of
the HSE. The additional requirements are needed to ensure aerodrome safety.
AIRPORT BY-LAWS
Where special rules apply at an airport, such as airport by-laws, it is imperative that, where applicable,
these rules form part of the airports Safety Management System and that the specific rules are
communicated to all users.
Where formal by-laws are not enacted, it is for an airports management to decide on which rules and
regulations need to be in place to satisfy the circumstances of their own airport and to ensure that these
are promulgated. This may take the form of conditions of use of the airport.
This information is intended to give guidance to the RFFS when attending fuelling incidents, fuelling
standbys or acting as fuelling overseers when aircraft fuelling or de-fuelling is in operation.
identify the key responsibilities of individuals involved in the management and distribution of fuel;
ensure that all personnel involved in the processes of receiving, storing and dispensing of fuel are
suitably trained or experienced to carry out the associated tasks; and
perform periodic audits of all fuel installations on the aerodrome to ensure compliance with the
Aerodrome Manual and procedures. The aerodrome inspector may wish to see records of these
audits.
Licensees should provide quality control and maintenance procedures for preventing the deterioration or
contamination of fuel stored in the fuel installation, procedures for the safe delivery into an aircraft of fuel
fit for use, and procedures for the retention of records as required under the ANO.
Fuel management procedures should include, but not be limited to, the following elements:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
d)
e)
f)
g)
be designed to enable the most rapid evacuation of passengers from the aircraft should the need
arise
ensure the ground area into which passengers would evacuate is kept clear of equipment and
obstacles
ensure vehicles attending the aircraft do not impede access to the site by Rescue and Fire
Fighting Service (RFFS) vehicles and personnel, or the egress of passengers evacuating the
aircraft
include appropriate attendance of RFFS
in the case of medical flights, take into account the ability, or inability, of the patient and attendant
staff to effect a rapid evacuation from the aircraft
take into account the ability of those whose mobility is impaired to effect a rapid evacuation from
the aircraft
comply with the requirements of the Joint Aviation Authorities and the European Aviation Safety
Agency.
HELICOPTERS
Passengers should not remain on the helicopter whilst fuelling is in progress:
a)
b)
except under exceptional circumstances, in which case all main exits should be available for
immediate use and the external area adjacent to the exits should be kept clear; or
with engines or rotors running if the only normal exit is on the same side as the fuelling points
The fuelling of helicopters with engines or rotors running should be prohibited when fuelling with:
a)
b)
FIRE RISKS
Licensees should address the fire risk associated with the processes involved in the handling of
fuel, taking into account the volatility of the fuels involved, the method of delivery and the
potential for a hazardous fuel/air mixture and a heat/ignition source to be present at the same
time.
Fuel storage, management, handling and distribution procedures required of the licensee by the
ANO should also be developed in accordance with Health and Safety at Work Regulations and
fuelling industry codes of best practice.
DSEAR regulations define Zones in which a potentially explosive atmosphere might exist (see
below). Licensees should establish the circumstances in which such an atmosphere might be
present in the process of fuel storage, management, handling and distribution at the aerodrome,
and should develop procedures to mitigate the associated risks.
The use of any equipment with the potential to create or induce a source of ignition should be
identified and excluded from any Fuelling Zone. Equipment maintenance, repairs and testing
procedures, including the operation of switches, radios and other devices, with the potential to
create a source of ignition within the Fuelling Zone, should be deferred until fuelling has finished.
Procedures should be established to prevent fuel ignition from other heat sources e.g. aircraft
Auxiliary Power Unit exhausts, overheated wheel brakes, jet efflux from other aircraft etc.
NOTE: The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) define the
following zones. Clearly the atmosphere around an aircraft or fuelling equipment during fuelling
operations could fall into the definitions of Zone 0/Zone 1.
physical contact with the aircraft by the distracted PED user could cause damage or injury
equipment being operated by a distracted PED user could cause damage to an aircraft;
and
PED users, distracted while performing essential safety related tasks, could leave those
tasks incomplete or unattended.
NOTE: Licensees should be aware that the hazards above are associated with actions or
inactions by apron staff and carry the potential for the effect to be concealed until a stage of flight
where the safety of the aircraft could be compromised.
Licensees should prohibit the use of PEDs on the apron area, or should restrict their use to
clearly defined and promulgated circumstances that mitigate the risks associated with their use.
These mitigations should be considered against the volatility of the fuel type involved, the
proximity of vehicle and aircraft vents, the circumstances under which they may be operated, the
category of the hazard, and the provision of an alternative non-interfering communication system.
Passengers boarding or disembarking the aircraft should be discouraged from using PEDs when
outside, but in the vicinity of, the aircraft.
SUMMARY
CAP 700 is a code of practice that has been produced to allow licensees to assess the level of
competence that exists within their organisation and to address any shortfalls.
The advice and guidance in CAP 642 is best described as Accepted Good Practice and represents an
acceptable way of doing things. It illustrates how risks might be identified and provides advice about how
airside safety can be placed within the context of a systematic and structured management approach a
Safety Management System.
CAP 748 should be considered an important part of the airport by-laws and incorporated into the Airport
Safety Management System.
NOTE: This training note contains extracts from CAP 700, CAP 642 and CAP 748 and this source
is duly acknowledged.
19.2
19.3
19.4
19.5
19.6
Specified
Post(s)
Named
Person(s)
Background Knowledge
Categorisation of Rescue and Firefighting Services (RFFS)
CAP 699 Standards for the Competence of RFFS Personnel Employment at UK Licensed
Aerodromes
Remission factors
Temporary depletion
Training
Certification of Personnel
Difficult terrain/environments
Equipment testing
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