I have been asked to audit a company in the airline industry and would like to pick the brains of my fellow professionals out there who are already in the industry! I understand the three main parts: The planes themselves, the maintenance of the planes (inc fuel & chemicals) and the ground staff and then there is the office staff. But what else do I need to know and look for, please help?

Steve Must agree with Bob. Whilst I agree with the fileds you have identified, the vagueness of your post does cause concern. After all, airlines are a safety critical activity. I think it would be best to ask for some assistance right now if you intend to do an audit.

Steve: As well as the points above - a lot also depends on what standards you have been asked to audit against... If it's just UK legislation, or HS(G)65 then you may get some help from here. However, if you've been asked to do a "comprehensive" audit - then you may also need to have an understanding of the very very many and varied national and international standards and agreements e.g. in relation to pilot medical standards, or tyre replacement frequencies or de-icing specifications or... Or - an audit against CAA standards or JAR standards? or..The list could be endless, and the problem may be that (without significant experience in this field) one wouldn't know what one didn't know... Which basically means that, for this purpose, one wouldn't be 'competent' since the definition of 'competence' - as Bob pointed out above - includes an element of knowing the boundaries of your knowledge. The danger is that you wouldn't even know that there were questions to be asked. But if you can give some clarity over exactly what you've been asked to audit - what scope or standard you have been asked to work to - and you can share it with us - then there may be someone on here who could be willing to help out? Steve

Hi Steve You may want to have a look at IOSH's Aviation and Aerospace Groups web pages. The resources section has links to various websites that could point you in the right direction. Within the resources section there are links to the HSE Air Transport web pages, HSG209 Aircraft Turnaround, CAP642 Airside Safety Management and CAP757 Occupational Health and Safety on Board Aircraft. If I was doing a general H&S audit of an aviation company the areas I would probably concentrate on are Hangar Fire Safety (inc. DESAR), Prevention of Slip, trips and falls (in hangar and on ramp), Manual Handling (on/off aircraft, crew and engineering tasks), Noise (both for aircrew and ground crew), Aircraft Turnaround and control of contractors (HSG209), work equipment (as a lot is left out in elements) and airside driving. There are more hazards but these are the main ones I see in my role. These are the main H&S areas, but flight safety, EU Ops, quality may also have a bearing on your audit. In addition, to these you may need to consider the Security requirements of the Department for Transport (DfT) as these can have a bearing on safety such as the welfare issue when the liquids ban first came in. I trust this is useful information. Brgds Rod

Be careful here - there is a protocol between the HSE and the CAA around safety. Another reason to be careful - unless you have knowledge of aviation/aircraft maintenance etc - you may end up getting involved with flight safety issues which are strictly outside the remit of the HSE/traditional safety issues. There is also (or should be) a strong quality control system to be followed - making apparently small changes can have large knock on affects. Also remember lots of EU Directives (DSEAR previously quoted) probably won't apply directly to aircraft systems/components - note I'm not saying such issues haven't been considered!! Just that they will come under CAA airworthiness requirements. One classic area to look at for propellor driven aircraft is the procedures for accessing live aircraft, especially by passengers/visitors etc - walking into a turning propellor is not a good idea. Also think about jet efflux for gas turbines. Tool control for maintenance engineers.