Investigate a ground damage occurrence

You are a safety officer in Safety and Compliance appointed as investigator.

Simulated workplaceAdvanced missionCAQA SkyBridge Aviation

What is going on

At Dubbo a belt loader contacted the rear cargo door of the 19-seat aircraft SB-DXE during positioning, scratching the door skin. An engineer inspected and released the aircraft and the flight departed 40 minutes late. The occurrence is logged as SR-26-0142 and classified medium, and the belt loader GSE-D-02 is quarantined in the Ground Support Equipment Register. The Safety and Compliance Manager has appointed you to investigate under the Safety Reporting and Investigation Procedure, which requires interviews in line with the just culture provisions, analysis of contributing factors across people, equipment, environment and procedures, and recommendations ranked by the hierarchy of control within 30 days. Ground damage is one of the principal hazards in the Hazard Register and the annual safety objective is to reduce it.

Simone Achterberg, Safety and Compliance Manager
Subject: Investigate the Dubbo ground damage, SR-26-0142

The belt loader contact with the cargo door of SB-DXE at Dubbo is classified medium and I am assigning you as investigator. Read the Safety Reporting and Investigation Procedure, pull the dispatch record and the equipment record, and interview the ramp team at Dubbo in line with the just culture provisions. I want the contributing factors, not just the person on the loader. Bring me findings, recommendations ranked by the hierarchy of control and a draft corrective action plan within 30 days, and update the Hazard Register entry for ground damage.

Your brief

Gather the records, interview the people involved, analyse the immediate and contributing factors, write findings and recommendations ranked by the hierarchy of control, draft a corrective action plan with owners and dates, and update the occurrence and the hazard register entry.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the Safety Reporting and Investigation Procedure and the Safety Policy just culture section, then open SR-26-0142 in the Safety Reporting System and record yourself as investigator.
Collect the SB-DXE dispatch record for the day, the GSE-D-02 record in the Ground Support Equipment Register and the ramp shift handover record for Dubbo.
Plan interviews with the belt loader operator, the guide person if any, the team leader and the flight crew, and conduct them using open questions and a supportive approach.
Analyse the evidence to identify the immediate cause and the contributing factors across people, equipment, environment and procedure, including staffing, time pressure and the reverse alarm status.
Write findings and recommendations ranked by the hierarchy of control, such as equipment stop bars, procedure changes, training and supervision, each with an owner and due date.
Update SR-26-0142 with the findings and actions and change the status to Actions open.
Review the ground damage entry in the Hazard Register and record whether the existing controls were effective and what additional controls are proposed.
Prepare a plain-language summary for the monthly safety bulletin that shares the lessons without identifying individuals.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

Investigation report with findings and recommendations
Corrective action plan with owners and dates
Updated SR-26-0142 record
Hazard Register review note
Safety bulletin summary

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.