ISAGO update

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In September 2017, changes to the management of the IATA Safety Audit for GroundOperations (ISAGO) were introduced. The new programme, which will apply to all auditsscheduled in 2018 and thereafter, aims to improve the quality of audits and enhance benefits

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) ISAGO audit scheme – 10 years old this year – seeks to eliminate duplicate audits and harmonise standards in ground handling around the world, thereby improving safety on the ramp.

The scheme is undergoing a process of refinement and improvement that has seen, among other changes, the establishment of the Charter of Professional Auditors (CoPA) along with a training and qualification process to ensure that auditors perform their duties to the required standards.

New training modules have been developed alongside new programme requirements and operating rules, revised standards and a new online application process for CoPA, to list just some of the work carried out.

Network-wide standardisation

The changes to ISAGO that will apply from next year represent a “fundamental change in the focus of the audits”, IATA says. “The current practice of independently auditing [GSP] headquarters and stations will cease. From January 2018, for ISAGO registration purposes, the headquarters will be audited first and the focus will be on the corporate policies, programs and procedures in place within the organisation to perform ground operations at all its stations.”

Monika Mejstrikova, head, ground operations audits at IATA, explains further: “There will be an emphasis on standardisation and documented processes and procedures throughout the organisation. Documentation references will be assessed and recorded in the headquarters audit report for use during subsequent station audits to demonstrate the management and control the GSP has over its ground operations at all its stations.

“A subsequent station audit will therefore focus less on documentation reviews and more on local implementation, addressing airline and station variations and the system the GSP has in place to manage those deviations from the corporate procedures.”

Sampling techniques will be enhanced to increase the number of samplings collected and recorded in the report, making the assessment more reliable. The report will contain more detail on the assessment of conformity and station/local deviation from corporate processes, including records related to airlines’ turnaround observations, Mejstrikova adds.

“As a starting point we will still audit all the stations that apply for ISAGO station accreditation; however, we believe that if a ground handling company decides to go for ISAGO registration and implement ISAGO requirements, then it should be network-wide, meaning there should not be major differences between different stations as they will all follow the corporate requirements with some local deviations, which are logical and related to airport/country specifics.”

Investment

Another change sees ground service providers (GSPs) being required to fund ISAGO audits – a point of some contention in the industry.

According to Mejstrikova: “Definitely the change for the GSPs is a major one: they will need to cover the cost of the audit, in the same way the airlines cover the cost of the IOSA audit or any other similar certification such as ISO.

“If we want the professionals from the industry to perform those high-quality audits, to validate the GSPs’ conformity to industry standards, or the effectiveness of their SMS implementation, then it’s more than clear that there is a price for that and we must compensate these auditors for their work.”

The return on investment for GSPs remains “quite difficult to prove”, Mejstrikova concedes. However, she notes that unlike 10 years ago, the majority of GSPs now have their own documentation system that is fully under their control, as well as training programmes that airlines have approved and can rely on, and quality assurance programmes for continuous improvement. She feels that GSPs “implement IGOM and take ISAGO as a competitive advantage”.

On top of that, the reporting culture has increased, leading to a 20% reduction in the ground damage incident rate between 2013 and 2017 (according to figures from IATA’s Ground Damage Database – GDDB).

“All of these things are significant improvements for our ground operations’ safety and ISAGO plays a great part in it,” Mejstrikova says. “It is difficult to put a dollar sign on it; however, the benefits for all stakeholders are indisputable.”

Going forward: “The one thing that we must improve is the reduction of duplicate audits and this is something that IATA takes very seriously. We are discussing this topic with our OPC and Board of Governors to find the best way to decrease the number of audits and start collecting some global statistics. This will definitely be our primary aim for years to come, working even more closely with airlines and the regulators.

“Another area we need to explore is to work with insurers to find out how to obtain a credit for those GSPs that implement ISAGO and see if their premium could be reduced.”

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