More than 200 drivers were awarded certifications after completing an airside driver safety course at Owen Roberts International Airport on Friday 30 October. Here drivers take a photo along with the senior management of Cayman Islands Airports Authority.

By Mwangi Ngamate
mwangi@caymannetnews.com

Over 200 drivers at Owen Roberts International Airport have completed an airside driver safety course and were awarded their certification on Friday 30 October.

“One hundred additional drivers are close to completing their courses and qualify for the Aerodrome Vehicle Operators Permit, bringing the total to some 300 certified drivers,” said the Senior Manager of Safety Management Systems, Andrew McLaughlin, who has been coordinating the course.

The Owen Roberts International Airport has modernised many aviation safety management standards, and new rules and operations are in play now.

“Under the traditional concept of safety, in the event of a crash, or damage to an aircraft, much emphasis was given to determining blame and those who were liable were often replaced,” Mr McLaughlin noted.

“However the new safety management system is not blame-based, and it seeks to fix the problem by training and ensuring that the different companies that operate in the airport are familiar with what others do so that conflict is kept to a minimum,” he said.

Through this course, drivers have been trained on new safety measures like driving in designated vehicular access lanes. They have been made aware of problem areas in the airport, like driving next to the aircraft wings or passenger lanes along the apron.

New standards require that drivers bringing luggage or cargo to the airplanes approach the same from behind. The drivers were also made aware of foreign object debris (FOD), which can lead to foreign object damage, and how to properly use FOD disposal bins.

As the drivers navigate along the airport, they may pick up granular objects in the treads of their tyres that might later be deposited onto the aircraft parking stand and sucked into the aircraft engines and could ultimately cause damage. The drivers were also informed of the proper disposal procedures for foreign objects that would include tags, padlocks and other pieces of passenger luggage.

CEO of the Cayman Islands Airports Authority, Jeremy Jackson, applauded Mr McLaughlin for the success of the programme.

“I applaud the efforts of Andrew McLaughlin, our Senior Manager Safety Management Systems, who worked tirelessly to ensure the successful implementation of the Aerodrome Vehicle Operator Permit policy. To his credit, over 200 participants have completed the four-hour driver training sessions and examinations,” he said.

The drivers were from various companies providing services at the airport including the Cayman Islands Agriculture Department, Air Agencies Ltd, Aviation Communications, Bodden Funeral Services, Cayman Dispatch Services, Cayman Islands Helicopters, Cayman Islands Airports Authority, Cayman Airways Ltd, Cayman Armored Services, Chevron Caribbean, Customs Department, DHL, Exxon, FADS, Federal Express, Island Air, Pegasus Air, C I Postal Services, Reliable Industries, Sprint Express Services and UPS.