Third party contractors including but not limited to ground handling agents.
What can CASR Part 121 operators do?
Organisations should use their Safety Management System (SMS) process to make sure third-party contractors are safely supporting AOC operations.
This includes effective performance monitoring and assurance to ensure contractors meet the minimum training, qualification and performance standards established by the AOC. This includes:
- safety managers that work with commercial or contract managers to ensure that service level agreements and, or contracts include:
- clearly defined safety performance obligations
- acceptable and, or unacceptable safety behaviours.
- ensuring you complete change risk assessments before entering new contracts or extending contracts with third party providers
- defining safety performance indicators and targets for third party contractors. For example, 100% staff completed SMS training
- conducting regular meetings – formal, ongoing, regular engagement with third party contractors to discuss safety performance
- ensuring third party staff can submit hazard/safety reports into your SMS
- considering safety performance as an equal metric to others (for example financial) when engaging and or reviewing contractors
- defining ongoing assurance and, or safety oversight of the third-party contractor
- considering third party implications in management of change
- defining Emergency Response Plan obligations (where applicable)
- encouraging third party contractor to implement own SMS – enable integration between SMS
- documenting all safety issues or safety risks related to the AOC and third-party contractors. They should also be made accessible to each organisation for sharing and review. To create shared ownership of safety risks and responsibility
- considering creating a safety promotion strategy. This includes sharing safety risks and lessons learned from the AOC to third-party contractors to enhance and promote safety awareness. While also creating a reciprocal process to allow for monitoring safety culture within contractor organisations
- considering the level of prior training you will recognise for both safety management and HF/NTS Training. How can you apply this for commonly used third party contractors across several AOCs? How can you achieve this while still ensuring you are meeting your SMS requirements?
What is CASA doing or has already delivered?
We have published a Resource kit to develop your Safety Management System.
The resource supports organisations develop and implement an SMS including with regard to the management of third-party contractors.
We have also developed a third edition of the SMS resource kit which contains significant enhancements to guidance for third part contractors.
Advisory circular AC 119-01 helps organisations meet Part 119 of CASR requirements. It also provides examples of SMS processes. Examples include management of third-party contractors suitable for organisations operating under SMS processes.
For references to third party contracted ground handling service providers, read part 121 operators to the ICAO guidance. The ICAO Manual on Ground Handling (Doc 10121) also includes guidance around the following:
- That an air operator should have a process for coordination with an external Ground Handling Service Provider. This ensures ongoing management of safety risks in operations conducted by the provider for the air operator.
- That a Ground Handling Service Provider should establish and maintain an SMS that is commensurate to the size and complexity of the operation.