Congratulations to the Air New Zealand Wellington Ramp team on winning the annual

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1 Welcome to the latest edition of Safety Watch Congratulations to the Air New Zealand Wellington Ramp team on winning the annual AAGSC Safety Award 2012!! There is an article about their safety initiative in this edition. This last quarter has seen some fantastic achievements by AAGSC members. Dennis Millington, Airfield Manager Auckland Airport, became the first person from the airport sector to receive an individual Civil Aviation Director s Award, recognising his outstanding contribution in safety. Simon Hatfield, Alice Springs Airport Operations manager, was recently recognised by the Australian Airports Association (AAA) by winning the Individual Award for Excellence at a Major Airport. Simon was recognised for his exceptional management of Alice Springs Airport (ASA) apron overlay project which was completed earlier this year and will ensure no major maintenance work is required to be done on ASA for the next 20 years. At the AAA conference in November Ian Bell did a presentation on the AAGSC to the CEOs and other senior airport managers from across Australia. This presentation has been posted on our website. As Christmas draws closer I would like to thank all those who have contributed to Safety Watch this year. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and Happy Christmas. Keep Safe Jude, Chairperson AAGSC On the subject of awards... During the Australasian Aviation Ground Safety Council AGM, held at Adelaide Airport in November 2012, Bob Calaby presented Vas Saris an award from Northern Territory Airports. Vas Saris recently retired from CASA and the award was made for generous assistance and advice to NT Airports and almost 40 years service to the Aviation Industry. Vas was Adelaide based but spent many years in the Northern Territory. He was resident District Aerodrome Inspector at Alice Springs Airport for 10 years and was also with the Mobile Maintenance Unit, constructing and maintaining licenced aerodromes in SA and the NT.

2 AAGSC 2012 Safety Award There were five nominations for this year s award which was very encouraging. Those nominated were Air New Zealand Wellington Ramp Cairns Airport Company Australian Air Express Air New Zealand Cargo Virgin Australia The judges were faced with a difficult task but their final decision went to the Air New Zealand Wellington Ramp entry. By their very operational requirements, airports are located in wide open areas and are therefore fully exposed to the full gamut of weather conditions, not the least of which is the wind. When Air New Zealand introduced the Airbus A320 into its fleet they decided to operate it in a container loading configuration on both domestic and international services. This necessitated the purchase of dedicated loaders and the Trepel Champ 35 was chosen. In recognition of the fact that Wellington is generally known as the Windy City, the Ramp team discussed the wind situation with the NZ Met office, especially in regard to the loading and unloading of empty AKH containers which are very light, having a tare weight of only 82kgs. The information they received indicated that, while many New Zealand cities experience days per year when winds gust over 60 km/hr, Wellington averages 173 such days. During the risk assessment stage it became apparent that there would be a strong possibility of them being blown off the deck of the loader, possibly causing damage to the container and the aircraft, and injury to personnel. To mitigate the risk, the first solution was to ban the unloading of empty containers during strong wind conditions but this proved too restrictive and it was then decided to position a loading staff member on the deck to hold the container. This was soon discontinued because of the injury risk factor so the Ramp Team began exploring other options and after considerable discussions with all involved it was decided to fit rails to the Champ 35 deck. (See picture). The Ramp team - Bruce Campbell, Ross Haywood, Robbie Tait, and John Harnett - passed details of the modification to their colleagues at all other Air New Zealand A320 stations and the Trepel company has also been advised. So congratulations to the Wellington Ramp team for this Award. The rails fitted to the Champ 35 deck

3 NZ CAA Director's Safety Awards - Individual Award The citation for the 2012 Individual Award reads "The winner of the 2012 Director s Award to an individual is Dennis Millington, Auckland Airport s Airfield Manager - a person widely recognised and acknowledged for his dedication, enthusiasm, innovation, and proactive efforts in improving safety standards at New Zealand s largest international airport. Dennis has played a major part in the introduction of low visibility operations at Auckland, and recently he has been instrumental in the introduction of a stand guidance system and road protection lights at international stands. The innovative guidance light system now installed on several international stands at Auckland is an excellent example of his ability to listen to his airport users, and then actively work with them to achieve appropriate solutions. The result has seen continual improvement in the airport s safety environment and also provided efficiencies to the benefit of pilots, passengers, and ground staff alike. His leadership of Auckland s Airfield Operations Team has created a safety conscious airfield operations staff, and he is the go-to person for any airside related safety issues. He is continually called on for his expertise and knowledge, not just at Auckland, but at other airports in New Zealand and beyond." The Award was presented to Dennis at a small function at Auckland Airport on 12 September by Graeme Harris, the NZCAA CEO and Director of Civil Aviation. In his presentation address, Mr Harris highlighted the importance of aviation safety in so many aspects of everyday life in New Zealand and, while the Civil Aviation Authority has a large part to play in this, they rely on everyone involved in the industry. He was particularly pleased to be able to present the award to Dennis and commented that the award is not necessarily presented each year. If no suitable nominations are received, no award is made and this made the 2012 award to Dennis all the more significant. In his acceptance speech, Dennis said he was very proud to be the recipient and expressed his sincere thanks to his faithful team, and to the members of the airport safety committee, drawn from all airside stakeholders, for making his task so much easier. Auckland International Airport Ltd is a long-standing member of the Australasian Aviation Ground Safety Council. The Council is proud to congratulate Dennis on his accomplishment in winning this award. He is a very keen advocate of the Council and fully participates in its activities. Dennis with his award at the function on 12th September Congratulations to all the award winners reported in this edition of Safety Watch aviation ground professionals keeping safety at the centre of everything they do.

4 Dangers of Unsecured Equipment on Aprons Of course, Wellington isn t the only airport that experiences high winds. They all do. And this brings up the issue of equipment that is not sufficiently secured on aprons. Although this problem is much discussed in meetings and trainings, it seems to be an ongoing issue in many airports and one that can have serious consequences, as was illustrated at an airport when high winds were experienced. Wind gusts in excess of 35 knots were experienced on and off over a period of four days. Wind warnings were well promulgated via group phone calls and warning signs, ground handlers were asked to ensure any loose equipment was secured and despite best efforts to be proactive, a number of incidents resulted. There were four instances of mobile stairs being blown around. Two made their way onto taxiways and were difficult to remove, the third was intercepted by a vehicle and the fourth set came very close to hitting an aircraft parked on the stand. It was stopped by a refueller. In addition, two incidents of a more serious nature also occurred. An engineer standing at the nose of an A320 was hit by a flying can which had been left loose on a remote stand, and a catering truck servicing an aircraft tipped forward, causing damage to the aircraft. Fortunately the door of the aircraft arrested the fall of the catering truck, preventing it from landing on the ground handlers working below. What can be done about this? Procedures are in place at most airports to advise of adverse weather conditions and it is incumbent on individual companies to activate reactive procedures. Most airports have the ability to infringe people seen leaving equipment insecure. This is an area of collective responsibility and one which should discussed at safety and staff meetings to keep the message alive that leaving equipment insecure on aprons is a very dangerous practice. Fuel and hazardous spills At an Airport, fuel, oil and sewage spills may occur on apron areas as a result of ground handling activities. A spill may occur during the refuelling of aircraft, an equipment malfunction, handling of toilet waste from aircraft or wing venting of fuel. There are 2 categories of spills on the airport: A major spill is when there is a fuel spill, oil spill or sewage spill greater than 100 litres. A spill of this size will activate the Airport Emergency Plan and the attendance of the Airport Fire Fighting Service. A Minor spill is when there is a fuel spill, oil spill or sewage spill greater than 2 litres but less than 100 litres. All spills greater than 2 litres must be reported. When dealing with a fuel spill: Stop the source of the leak Remove all possible sources of ignition from an area at least 15m from the fuel. Remove electrical equipment and vehicles and shutdown aircraft and air conditioning systems. Remove all people from the area. Contain the fuel by surrounding it with spill absorbent materials and stop it entering drains. Clean it up and have fire extinguishers or the Airport Fire Service on hand in case of fire. Should people be doused in fuel it is important to: Remove NO clothing. Static from clothing can cause fuel to ignite. Provide immediate first aid if fuel in eyes, mouth or lungs. Undress under a running shower only. Wash thoroughly to remove fuel from skin. Provide clean clothes for them to change into. Continued next page...

5 Fuel and hazardous spills (from page 4) Operators are required to clean up their own spills using their own spill kits. Airports do provide additional spill kits on the apron areas but these should only be used to assist when additional absorbent material is required during a large spill. Airport spill kits should not be used for disposing of FOD or used absorbent. Place all used fuel and oil contaminated absorbent in the FOD bins. Sewage contaminated clean up materials should be disposed of off-site by a licensed waste contractor. Airport spill kits are available to help you to deal with larger spills Airside driving movements/speeds data-led traffic enforcement Do you know how many airside vehicle movements are occurring on your busiest apron roads? Do you know what speed airside drivers are travelling at 0200hr in the morning when the majority of operational staff are fast asleep? Continued on next page

6 Data-led traffic enforcement (continued from page 5) Auckland Airport has introduced electronic signage on the airfield which is able to capture traffic data. The electronic signage can capture and store up to 250,000 vehicle movements and speeds, operates 24/7 and can be set to visually display or not display the vehicles speed while still capturing vital traffic data. Similar to the electronic signs you see outside schools these signs have been introduced so we can begin to gain some insight into the number of airfield vehicle movements, provide us the ability to identify unknown apron hotspots and monitor/trend vehicle speeds on our aprons. In the past, airside traffic enforcement at Auckland Airport has been conducted at various random locations and on the basis of when staff could fit it in around normal duties. By having this data we have started to make more intelligence led decisions around what locations to target and the best times of day or night when conducting our traffic enforcement. We hope that over time, by using targeted enforcement we will be able to measure and see a reduction in airside driving infringements for the areas we are targeting. A scheduled programme has been set up, which divides the airfield aprons into 6 zones. We then systematically rotate our signs through these zones so that over time we can pick up on any trends or problem areas. One of the signs is also available to the stakeholders who may have identified a potential hot spot and would like this area monitored for a period. All data then feeds into a monthly report which we produce for the Apron Safety Meeting and other safety forums. The programme is still in its infancy but some of the results and data we have captured have been interesting to say the least! - In September, we monitored one of the outer pier roads for a 13 day period. While we predicted there might be around 5,000 vehicle movements at the most, when we downloaded the data the report produced 30,000 vehicle movements! - For the same September period, the majority of airside vehicle movements (85%) were at or below the prescribed speed for the area we were monitoring. - At 0200 in the morning (when we have little or no traffic enforcement coverage) the average speed was only 2-5kph higher than during normal business hours. - As you would expect, peak traffic movement times match the peak periods for airline movements at Auckland Airport. Feedback from the various ground handlers, refuellers and airlines has been positive and they have taken a keen interest in reviewing each month the reports showing airside vehicle movements and speed data. The Australasian Aviation Ground Safety Council is an incorporated non-profit association of best practice airlines, airport companies, ground handling companies, refuelling companies and their ground safety practitioners. We are committed to upholding a high standard of ramp safety principles for the on-going benefit of our members, their employees and everyone else who works in the inherently dangerous environment of an airport ramp. Members: For more information contact your local AAGSC representative or visit our website Safety Watch was produced for the AAGSC Inc. by Charlie Bravo