Aviation Ground Safety

Ground operations at major airports or any airport for that matter, are an important safety issue in aviation. There are numerous safety issues that pose a risk every day. While aircraft are being towed, serviced, repaired, maintenance vehicles driving across the ramp, aircraft are also taxiing to and from the runway at the same time. The ramp area sees a wide variety of high paced activities that involve aircraft, vehicles, and personnel working in close proximity to one another. Aside from the already mentioned activities from above, refueling, baggage and cargo handling also takes place on the ramp. Personnel involved with these types of activities are exposed to several hazards and potential injuries such as cuts, falls, strains and sprains, hazardous material exposure, contact with moving parts, electrical hazards, biohazards, high pressure air, and extremely high noise levels from operating engines and other equipment (Wells & Rodrigues, 2004).
Fuel handling is a major safety concern during ground operations. All safety procedures such as static grounding the aircraft, ensuring properly trained personnel are accomplishing the task, ensuring proper emergency services can respond in the event of the emergency such as a fuel spill or fire. Failure to adhere to specific safety precautions while refueling aircraft can lead to major disasters with serious consequences. The proper distance for refueling aircraft, such as fuel pit or truck location, can be just as important. These items should be located at least 50 feet away from a terminal building or outside of a hangar.
Another interesting topic when it comes to ground safety is runway incursions. A runway incursion is any occurrence at an airport involving an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object on the ground that creates a collision hazard or results in a loss of separation with an aircraft that is taking off, intending to take off, landing, or intending to land (Wells & Rodrigues, 2004). To be considered a runway incursion, both of the following have to occur: at least one aircraft, vehicle, person, or object must be on the runway and a collision hazard or a loss of separation must occur. When it comes to vehicles on the flightline, there is technology in place to alert the driver when they are about to enter an active area, such as crossing the runway.

Reference: Wells, Alexander T. & Rodrigues, Clarence C. (2004). Commercial Aviation Safety. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

OSHA and EPA Regulations in Aviation

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA was created in 1970 to ensure the safety of workers and provide healthful working conditions at their job site. OSHA basically covers all employers and employees who operate in the United States except those workplaces already covered by other federal agencies under other federal statutes. When it comes to aviation, OSHA’s standards are noticeable under a company’s safety program. For instance, while working on a flightline, protective equipment such as steel toe boots, safety glasses, hearing protection and other items are required in accordance with OSHA safety standards. OSHA also requires periodic hearing testing for those that operate in a high noise environment. There are additional guidelines set forth by OSHA to identify methods for handling hazardous chemicals such as jet fuel, deicing fluid, battery maintenance and disposal, hydraulic fluids and more. With the hazard communication standard, all employees who may come in contact with hazardous chemicals must be trained with its appropriate use. A material safety data sheet or MSDS is required to be on site for easy access. It lists all the chemicals on site, their composition and how to treat if they come in skin contact or ingested. All chemicals must be properly stored and labeled correctly as well. OSHA regulations have a direct impact on ground safety operations. These standards ensure that all employees are notified of the risks and steps are taken to minimize negative consequences at the work center.
The Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970. The EPA was created to allow government action on behalf of the environment. The EPA is primarily concerned with regulating the disposal of hazardous chemicals into the environment. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act has the most direct impact on aviation when it comes to the EPA. Many areas of aviation fall under this category; such as aircraft cleaning and painting, spills and leaks from fuel systems and storage tanks, leaking acid from aircraft batteries, glycol used for deicing and others. Speaking from personal experience, the EPA had issued a cleanup order for McGuire AFB in 2007. It was found waste was improperly disposed at dump sites, underground fuel system hydrants were leaking into the underground water supply, and many other violations. If memory serves me correctly, there were over 30 areas of the base on the EPA’s red flag list. Even though it should have never reached that point to begin with, the order had a direct impact on the day to day operations at the base. Simple aircraft servicing tasks were drawn out longer than they had been previously; which in the end resulted in affecting aircraft turnaround times.

Risk Management

Risk management is the overall process of identifying, evaluating, controlling or reducing, and accepting risks. It is the general term given to the process of making management decisions about risk that have been identified and analyzed (Wells & Rodrigues, 2004). So what is a risk exactly? A risk is the combination of the probability of a hazard occurring and the severity of its effects. For instance, if I place myself on a high work stand platform to perform a task on an aircraft without fall protection, I would be assuming a great risk. The probability of me falling is about 50%. However, if I do fall the consequences would be severe, perhaps life threatening. I would have essentially risked my well being to be able to perform a certain task on that aircraft. Risk management involves conserving assets and minimizing exposure to losses.
If risk management programs are to be successful, they need to be integrated into the various business functions within the organization. This success is also evident in the military. The U.S. Air Force currently employs the use of Maintenance Resource Management or MRM. It is based on the successful CRM but applied to the aircraft maintenance aspect of operations. It emphasizes the use of teamwork to identify potential risks, assess and properly evaluate those risks. A risk management program usually contains the following elements:
1. A written safety policy statement signed off by the highest ranking person on site
2. Goals and objectives that are integrated into employee evaluations
3. Formal and informal accident reporting systems
4. An impartial review of incident and accident reports
5. A process for prioritizing and addressing hazards
6. A feedback process to notify those who report or identify hazards to reduce and or eliminate them are informed of the outcome
7. A process to continually update and evaluate the risk management program
Maintaining a safe work environment is an important responsibility in not just the aviation industry, but for any workplace. Minimizing the potential risks before accidents happen can lead to a better overall work environment towards the safety of its employees.

Reference: Wells, Alexander T. & Rodrigues, Clarence C. (2004). Commercial Aviation Safety. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Human Factors and the SHEL Model

To err is human; a person can never be 100% error free. It is just about impossible as we are all prone to making errors at some point in time. This is where the study of human factors comes into play. What exactly are human factors anyway? Simply put, human factors is about people. It’s about people in their working and living environments, their relationship with machines and equipment, the surrounding environment, and their relationship with interacting with other people. The types of human errors can be classified according to the SHEL model. This model focuses on four key components: Software, Hardware, Environment, and Liveware. Hardware factors include the design of equipment, displays, and controls. Engineering control strategies have been implemented in this area such as easy access to critical controls or design layout in general. Other examples include the design of the landing gear handle to mimic the round shape of a landing gear tire or a flap slat handle which is designed in such a way as mimics the appearance of an aircraft’s flap. Software factors simply include airline policies, standard operating procedures, checklists and other similar items. Environmental factors include noise, temperature, humidity, time of day, and overall weather. The liveware portion focuses on the interaction of people such as other crew members in the cockpit, communicating with air traffic control, or company management. While eliminating errors is nearly impossible, by improving cockpit designs, constant monitoring of accidents, incidents, and other reports such as NASA’s ASRS reporting system, these errors can be mitigated. Today’s air transportation system has an excellent safety record compared to the early days of aviation due to the fact new improvements are always occurring in the field of human factors.

Reference: Wells, Alexander T. & Rodrigues, Clarence C. (2004). Commercial Aviation Safety. New York:
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Measuring safety using safety data systems

When it comes to reporting safety data, there are several definitions that are used by the NTSB when measuring aviation safety. These include defining between accidents and incidents, classifications of injury, and classifications of accidents. Many people may get confused between as to what is an accident or incident exactly. An accident is an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft that takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and the time all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers a fatal or serious injury or the aircraft receives substantial damage. An incident however, is an occurrence other than an accident associated with the operation of an aircraft that affects or could affect the safety of operations. Examples of incidents can include near mid-air collisions, runway incursions, or in-flight fires.
When it comes to incident reporting systems, there are two main types in use: mandatory and voluntary. In a mandatory reporting system, people are required to report certain types of incidents. The system has detailed regulations which outline who shall report and what shall be reported. This is the only way for this system to be enforced. The goal of a mandatory system is to avoid unnecessary duplication. It also collects more data on technical failures rather than the human factors aspect. In a voluntary reporting system, pilots, controllers, mechanics and others can voluntarily submit reports on hazards in which they themselves were involved in. A voluntary system also achieves confidentiality and for those reporting, they do not face fear of any reprisals. This tends to be more favorable and successful than a mandatory system in collecting human factors data. A good example of a voluntary reporting system is the Aviation Safety Reporting System. It is funded by the FAA, but it’s operated by NASA. It’s designed to gather the most information possible without discouraging the reporter. It is a highly favorable system as it protects the identity of the reporter from being known, as well as encourages reporting incidents without the fear of retribution.

Federal Aviation Safety Laws

The history of aviation has come a long way since Orville and Wilbur Wright made their historic first flight off the sandy beaches of Kittyhawk, North Carolina in 1903. Although their first flight lasted only for 12 seconds, they managed to fly the world's first powered aircraft a distance of 120 feet. From that moment on, the world would never be the same; aviation had been born. The early days of aviation was greatly influenced after the first World War. Many pilots who had flown in combat over the skies of France and such, returned home to put their skills to use as barnstormers, crop dusters, and even running illegal alcohol shipments during prohibition. A major stepping stone in the development of aviation was the creation of the U.S. Air Mail Service in the early 1920's. In those days, what is now known as the FAA wasn't even in existence. Aviation did not have many, if at all any regulations or laws in effect as we see today. In fact, in the early days of flying, all a pilot had to do to be declared a competent pilot was to successfully fly a plane, perform a few simple maneuvers, and land without crashing the aircraft.
By 1925, the United States government began to truly catch on to the success and potential of flying. Congress created the Air Mail Act of 1925, which allowed the Post Office Department to transfer air mail service to private operators. By 1926, with the passage of the Air Commerce Act, power was given to the Department of Commerce to establish the Aeronautics Branch of the agency. This was another stepping stone as it was a step towards regulating and promoting aviation. This legislation was the first instance in which pilots and mechanics required certification. As aviation grew, it was deemed that more regulation was necessary. In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Authority was created from the Civil Aeronautics Act. The CAA was the pre cursor to what is now the FAA of the today. It was responsible for overseeing route certification, airline tariffs, and air mail rates. A separate office within the CAA was charged with overseeing the civil airways, navigation facilities, and air traffic control. A separate aeronautical agency was created in 1940 under the Reorganization Act of 1939, this was known as the Civil Aeronautics Board. As the earliest variation of the NTSB, the CAB was responsible for regulatory and investigative matters involved with aviation. After World War Two, aviation boomed with the passenger service air travel and not long after, the entry into the jet age. As a result, aviation accidents continued to rise. This led to the Federal Aviation Act in which the Federal Aviation Agency was created. The Federal Aviation Agency assumed many duties of the CAA and CAB, such as promoting air commerce, regulating safety, future ATC and navigation systems, and airspace allocation and policy. The CAB continued on as a separate agency but was primarily used for accident investigations. The FAA enacted several safety regulations such as minimum standards for the design, performance, and materials of aircraft, aircraft and engine inspection criteria, establishing the maximum number of hours or periods of service for pilots and other aviation employees, and other safety regulations promoting the safety and security of air commerce. It wasn't until 1966 when the Department of Transportation was formed, that the Federal Aviation Agency was renamed the Federal Aviation Administration that we all know today. The NTSB was also created during this time and assumed accident investigation responsibilities from the CAB. Throughout the years, these and many other Congressional Acts have allowed the FAA to establish regulations in which the FAA has and continued to help create the safest, most reliable, most efficient, and most productive air transportation system in the world.

Commercial Aviation Safety 4th ed.
Alexander T. Wells & Clarence C. Rodrigues