News

We look at the work of BALPAs health and safety reps, and the group that oversees their activity By Joji Waites, BALPA Flight Safety Specialist here are often negative connotations associated with health and safety, but have you ever wondered who challenges and holds your companies to account with keeping crew rooms in shape, maintaining the cleanliness of aircraft flight decks, and providing you with adequate supplies of winter personal protective equipment, among other things? Without the herculean efforts of your BALPA-appointed Health and Safety (H&S) representatives, things would be a lot worse. What is the Occupational Health & Safety Group (OHSG)? As a function of its association status, BALPA has a technical capability comprising a number of safety-related study groups, of which the OHSG is one. The OHSG differs from other study groups in that it includes officially appointed and trained1 health and safety specialists who have specific rights, laid down in legislation, and whose status is recognised by the companies in which they work. Other study groups are largely staffed by volunteer reps. The OHSG has responsibility for the development and implementation of BALPA occupational health and safety policy and procedures, with an emphasis on professional pilot operational experience. Leadership and direction The OHSG is BALPAs largest study group, with some 40 members, among them H&S reps from 14 airlines. It also includes BALPA staff members and representatives from the Operational Aviation Medicine (Ops Av Med) and Pilot Advisory Group (PAG) groups, owing to the crossover in issues covered and to facilitate collaborative working. As with all BALPA flight safety committees, there is a Chair and Vice-chair to give leadership and direction, and these roles are currently held by Captains Ian Norman (Virgin Atlantic) and Allan Simpson (KLM UK). Both are building on the firm foundations created by Rik Moore (British Airways), who previously held the position of chair and was instrumental in establishing the OHSG as the effective body it is today. The group also has the benefit of an ex-HSE inspector who acts as an adviser on specific issues as and when they arise. At the time of writing this article, the country is in the midst of the COVID-19enforced lockdown, but the OHSG continues to operate remotely. In normal times, the OHSG meets formally every other month at BALPA HQ for the best part of a day, and maintains communication between meetings via electronic means and the good oldfashioned telephone. When the pandemic is over, there will most likely be a review of how best to conduct business in the future. What does the OHSG do? In essence, the OHSG maintains a close overview of occupational health and safety practices at BALPA-recognised airlines via its H&S reps to check that our employers are complying with relevant UK and European regulations and directives2 and, most importantly, to protect the health and safety interests of our members. Another key function is the collation of best practice across all airlines in a number of important health and safety areas, which is regularly reviewed, updated, and promoted to ensure that all airlines benefit from the experience of their peers. Example of best practice subjects include: Fatigue (contribution of flight scheduling, reporting, and monitoring) Fume events (investigation, reporting and medical support) Use of ANR headsets (noise-related health effects and hygiene) Winter PPE (content and provision) Cosmic radiation (exposure and mitigation) Aircraft cleaning (coverage, provision of supplies and hygiene) Down-route, on-duty medical coverage Hotel accommodation (after long duty periods and/or disruption) Car parking (effects on overall duty periods and fatigue) The group also provides specialist representation at industrial, governmental, regulatory and research forums for example, BALPA attends the TUC Union Health and Safety Specialists forum, which allows the cross-industry sharing of knowledge and good practice. The OHSG works on the principles of communication, collaboration and education Achieving objectives READ MORE H&S rep testimonials The OHSG works on the principles of effective communication, collaboration and education. It has the privilege to call on expertise across a wide spectrum of UK airlines, from regular scheduled short- and long-haul carriers to rotary offshore and military training establishments. Most issues that can be imagined have been experienced by someone within the group, with a solution already prepared (or if not, then a good idea of how to solve the problem). Evidence of non-compliance or general poor practice within an airline(s), are debated among the group, and strategies formulated on how best to address them with the company(ies) in question. This discussion acts as an effective means of educating the group as a whole and building its capability. The group also uses its contacts with government and regulatory bodies to raise any concerns it has about H&S regulations and how they are enforced. A good recent example is the feedback of concerns into the triennial review of the memorandum of understanding between the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). A more recent expansion of the OHSGs oversight role is in the deployment of targeted H&S inspections within airlines, which focus on specific aspects such as flight scheduling practice and investigation of fume events. The ability to conduct such inspections is a right conferred on H&S reps through legislation. What has the OHSG done with respect to COVID-19? COVID-19 has presented an unprecedented challenge to the aviation industry. Aside from commercial aspects, this challenge is no greater than in maintaining the occupational health and safety of its workforce. The OHSG has worked tirelessly to keep on top of the continuously evolving advice from organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Public Health England (PHE) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), among others. Together with the Ops Av Med group, it has tried to filter out the genuinely useful and practical information from the mass of noise, and package it an appropriate format for consumption at both a BALPA rep and wider membership level. Arming its reps with the necessary information with which to hold their companies to account, and supporting them through some difficult conversations, has arguably been the greatest challenge. Examples of COVID-19-related H&S issues that the OHSG has overseen include: What constitutes an appropriate level of personal protective equipment (PPE) including use (or not) of facemasks Cleaning/disinfecting of flight decks Operational mitigations such as use of cabin air recirculation Implementation of social distancing in the cabin How best to deal with symptomatic passengers Every airline or company should have an active H&S rep supported by the OHSG and BALPA Both a reps and members guide has been produced, which collates advice across all of these areas. In collaboration with the PAG and Ops Av Med, a guide has also been produced on pilot wellbeing during the pandemic. While supporting its membership has been the focus of OHSG activities, it has also engaged with government and regulatory organisations such as the DfT, PHE and CAA to ensure that concerns (such as provision of PPE and implementation of EASA recommendations) are escalated, where appropriate, and official information is sourced (such as PHE policy on the use of facemasks and advice on social distancing in an aircraft context). Looking to the future It has been alluded to already, but arguably the greatest challenge for the OHSG and its reps, in the wider H&S context, is in obtaining the necessary level of engagement and support from airline management. It requires a constant education of the legislative rights available to reps, combined with an effective selling of the mutual benefits of reps and management working harmoniously in collaboration rather than confrontation. The aspiration is to improve this relationship while maintaining a continuous supply of new reps with the enthusiasm and dedication to raise occupational health and safety standards for the benefit of all. References: 1 Health and Safety Induction Level 2 Programme as provided for all H&S reps by BALPA. 2 Including, but not limited to, the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations (1977), Working Time Regulations (1998) and Civil Aviation Working Time Regulations (2004). READ MORE H&S REP TESTIMONIALS It has been a pleasure and, indeed, honour to serve on the OHSG for nearly 14 years, and be part of the original establishing team at BALPA of aviation H&S reps. It is also a privilege to have taken the baton from Rik Moore as Chair and to build on his amazing work, particularly in opening our eyes to the huge challenges we face within the aviation H&S arena worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect illustration of such a challenge, and has seen the OHSG raise its game to provide targeted support and advice for our members. Therefore, I am so thankful to each individual H&S reps drive, enthusiasm and energy that continues this work for the good of all, along with the support from BALPA staff members. Ian Norman, Virgin Atlantic and OHSG Chair I have served on the OHSG for more than 10 years and, for the last year, as Vice-Chair. This BALPA group has proved an invaluable source of expertise and knowledge to the many H&S reps in the industry. Every airline or company should have an active H&S rep supported by the OHSG and BALPA. If you currently dont, then get in touch and we can assist. Allan Simpson, KLM Cityhopper UK and OHSG Vice-Chair I have been an H&S rep at easyJet for more than a year and have attended several OHSG meetings. It has been very useful to have access to a broad H&S knowledge base from across the airlines. It is helping us in easyJet to try to tackle issues such as burnout and fatigue. It has been especially useful to have access to HSE expertise. Nuala King, easyJet Across the UK and Europe, different companies have different working relationships with their BALPA H&S reps; some companies are at the very infancy whereas others are a long way down the road. Im the rep at BA and in my second year of being in the role so, for me, sharing experiences with more experienced reps is invaluable. The main issues we have been contending with over the past two years fatigue, fumes events and COVID-19 have required input from medical experts, and I particularly value the contribution the doctors from the Ops Av Med group make to the OHSG. The group also benefits from BALPAs in-house safety experts, who contribute greatly to the knowledge base, as well as providing support for my work with BA. The COVID-19 crisis has been a good example of this. The sheer volume of information flowing out of EASA, IATA, PHE, ECDPC, the CAA and central government has made it very hard at times to achieve a consistent policy on something as basic as face masks, for example, and their assistance in collating this data into workable solutions has been extremely helpful. Aiden Brown, British Airways TECH LOG Steering a safe course