Ground handling training and non-compliance

Thank you for raising this report. We acknowledge and appreciate the aim of the REPCON scheme to provide organisations with the opportunity to review safety management systems and assess if there are any areas that may be improved.

We take training and compliance very seriously and have reviewed the report with our focus firmly on this objective.

In our response, we would like to concentrate on our training framework and risk controls which are fundamental to the safety of our people.

Safety performance and operational integrity depend on properly trained and competent personnel. Only qualified individuals are authorised to perform critical functions.

Protection for untrained staff

Controls are integrated within the organisation’s rostering and workforce planning systems. Personnel who have not completed the required training and competency requirements are unable to be rostered for the relevant task, as the system prevents such allocations. Furthermore, the system generates warning notifications and prevents the assignment of tasks to personnel who do not meet the required training and competency criteria, ensuring that only appropriately trained and authorised staff are allocated to undertake operational duties.

Training assurance

Assurance checks are conducted on a comprehensive and structured cadence to monitor training compliance and competency requirements across the workforce. These reviews provide ongoing oversight of training completion, currency, and system controls, ensuring that any gaps are identified and addressed in a timely manner and that personnel undertaking operational duties continue to meet the required training and competency standards.

As a participant in a highly regulated industry, we are routinely subjected to independent airline audits, and we maintain strict compliance by ensuring all personnel meet established training and competency standards.

Empowerment

Our organisation is committed to maintaining a culture of integrity, accountability and transparency. We encourage all employees to speak up if they see, hear or suspect behaviour that may be unethical, unsafe, unlawful or inconsistent with our values and policies.

Every staff member plays an important role in protecting our workplace, our colleagues and the communities we serve. Speaking up helps us identify risks early, address issues promptly and continuously improve how we operate.

Employees are actively encouraged and expected to raise concerns in good faith without fear of retaliation, discrimination or adverse consequences. All reports will be taken seriously, handled respectfully and reviewed through appropriate channels.

We maintain a disciplined reporting culture that requires accurate, timely, and transparent reporting, that supports Just Culture.

Leaders at all levels are responsible for fostering an environment where people feel safe, supported and confident to raise concerns. By speaking up, we strengthen trust, uphold our standards and ensure we operate with the highest level of professionalism and integrity.

We acknowledge the reporter who has raised this report as they have a safety-first mindset. Keeping our people safe is the number one focus for our business.

As a result of the report we will be undertaking a review of our systems and processes.

We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of training compliance and operational safety.