ATCO.OR.C.001 Management system of training organisations

The requirements for the management system of training organisations may be satisfied if the air navigation service provider’s management system/safety management system (SMS) specifically covers the requirements of this Regulation.

SAFETY POLICY The safety policy should:

(a)be endorsed by the accountable manager;

(b)clearly identify safety as the highest organisational priority over commercial, operational, environmental or social pressures;

(c)include a commitment to:

(1)improve towards the highest safety standards;

(2)comply with all applicable legal requirements, meet all applicable standards and consider best practices;

(3)provide appropriate resources; and

(4)enforce safety as the primary responsibility of all managers and staff;

(d)be communicated, with visible endorsement, throughout the organisation;

(e)include safety reporting and just culture principles;

(f)enhance and embed safety culture and safety awareness; and

(g)be periodically reviewed to ensure it remains relevant and appropriate to the training organisation. [applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]

(a)be signed by the accountable manager;

(b)reflect the organisation’s commitment regarding safety, and its proactive and systematic management;

(c)be communicated, with visible endorsement, throughout the organisation;

(d)include safety-reporting principles and procedures, if applicable;

(e)include the organisations's commitment to:

(1)improve towards the highest safety standards;

(2)comply with all applicable legal requirements, meet all applicable standards and consider best practices;

(3)provide appropriate resources;

(4)enforce safety as the primary responsibility of all managers and staff; and

(5)apply just culture principles in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 and, in particular, not to make available or use the information on occurrences:

(i)to attribute blame or liability to someone for reporting something that would not have been otherwise detected; or

(ii)for any purpose other than the maintenance or improvement of aviation safety;

(f)clearly indicate which types of operational behaviour are unacceptable, and include the conditions under which disciplinary action would not apply, if applicable;

(g)enhance and embed safety culture and safety awareness; and

(h)be periodically reviewed to ensure it remains relevant and appropriate to the training organisation. [applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]

SAFETY POLICY

(a)The safety policy is the means whereby a training organisation states its intention to maintain and, where practicable, improve safety levels in all its activities and to minimise its contribution to the risk of an aircraft accident or serious incident as far as is reasonably practicable. It reflects the management’s commitment to safety, and should reflect the organisation’s philosophy as regards safety management, as well as become the foundation on which the organisation’s management system is built. It serves as a reminder of ‘how we do business here’. The establishment of a positive safety culture begins with the issuance of a clear, unequivocal direction.

(b)The commitment to apply just culture principles forms the basis for the organisation’s internal rules describing how just culture principles are guaranteed and implemented, after consulting its staff representatives, as required by Article 16(11) of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014.

(c)The safety policy should state that the purpose of safety reporting is to improve safety, not to apportion blame to individuals. [applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]

IDENTIFICATION OF AVIATION SAFETY HAZARDS For training organisations not providing on-the-job training, the hazard identification process may be limited to a demonstration that there are no hazards directly identified. However, the training should be designed so as to ensure future safe operations.

PERSONNEL A training organisation should demonstrate that:

(a)a list of activities with relevant needed competence has been established;

(b)their personnel have the relevant competence needed to fulfil the activities they are required to perform;

(c)their personnel maintain a level of competence through training as appropriate;

(d)their theoretical and practical instructors are qualified in accordance with Part ATCO, Subpart C of this Regulation;

(e)their practical instructors either hold an OJTI endorsement or an STDI endorsement;

(f)their assessors hold an assessor endorsement; and

(g)their synthetic training device instructors and assessors demonstrate knowledge of and receive refresher training in current operational practices.

PROCESSES Training organisations should demonstrate that the management system:

(a)policies, processes and procedures are monitored to ensure they are current and subject to periodic review and amendment, when necessary, to maintain their continued accuracy and suitability;

(b)allows for the impromptu recognition and initiation of improvements to policies, processes and procedures between periodic reviews;

(c)controls, records and tracks changes to all of the management system policy, process and procedure documents;

(d)includes a master record index that lists all the policies, processes and procedures; and

(e)includes as a minimum the following:

(1)master record index;

(2)training provider certificate;

(3)management structure;

(4)staff role profiles including accountabilities and responsibilities;

(5)training manuals, plans and courses;

(6)evidence of regulatory compliance;

(7)change control process;

(8)safety management manual;

(9)course design documents;

(10)instructor/assessor qualification and competence records.

COMPLIANCE MONITORING

(a)The implementation and use of a compliance monitoring function should enable the training organisation to monitor compliance with the relevant requirements of this Regulation.

(b)Training organisations should specify the basic structure of the compliance monitoring function applicable to the activities conducted.

(c)The compliance monitoring function should be structured according to the activities of the training organisation to be monitored.

EXAMPLE OF COMPLIANCE MONITORING SYSTEM

(a)Training organisations may monitor compliance with the procedures they have designed to ensure safe activities. In doing so, they may, as a minimum, and, where appropriate, monitor:

(1)the organisational structure;

(2)the plans and objectives;

(3)the privileges of the organisation;

(4)the manuals, logs and records;

(5)the training standards;

(6)the management system.

(b)Organisational set-up

(1)To ensure that the training organisation continues to meet the requirements of this Regulation, the accountable manager may designate a person responsible for the compliance monitoring function whose role is to verify, by monitoring the activities of the organisation, that the standards required by this Regulation and any additional requirements as established by the organisation are met under the supervision of the relevant head of the functional area. For small training organisations, these identified functions can be fulfilled by the same person.

(2)The person designated for the compliance monitoring function should be responsible for ensuring that the compliance monitoring programme is properly implemented, maintained and continually reviewed and improved.

(3)The designated person responsible for the compliance monitoring function should:

(i)have direct access to the accountable manager; and

(ii)have access to all parts of the training organisation and, as necessary, to any contracted organisation.

(c)Compliance monitoring documentation

(1)Relevant documentation could include the relevant part(s) of the training organisation management system documentation.

(2)In addition, relevant documentation could also include the following:

(i)terminology;

(ii)specified activity standards;

(iii)description of the organisation;

(iv)allocation of duties and responsibilities;

(v)procedures to ensure regulatory compliance;

(vi)compliance monitoring programme, reflecting:

(A)schedule of the monitoring programme;

(B)audit procedures;

(C)reporting procedures;

(D)follow-up and corrective action procedures; and

(E)recording system;

(vii)training elements referred to in paragraph 4(b)

(viii)document control.

(d)Training

(1)Correct and thorough training is essential to optimise compliance in every training organisation. In order to achieve significant outcomes of such training, the training organisation needs to ensure that all personnel understand the objectives laid down in the organisation’s manual.

(2)Those responsible for managing the compliance monitoring function should receive training in this task. Such training could cover the requirements of compliance monitoring, manuals and procedures related to the task, audit techniques, reporting and recording.

(3)Time needs to be provided to train all personnel involved in compliance management and for briefing the rest of the personnel.

(4)The allocation of time and resources needs to be governed by the activities covered by the training organisation.

COMPLIANCE MONITORING The person designated for the compliance monitoring function should be responsible for the review and continuous improvement of the established management system’s policies, processes and procedures. The following tools are essential to the ongoing continuous improvement process:

(a)organisational risk profile;

(b)risk management plan;

(c)coherence matrix;

(d)corrective and preventive action reports; and

(e)inspection and audit reports.

COMPLIANCE MONITORING

(a)These tools and processes related to the compliance monitoring function are interrelated and help define the continuous improvement efforts of the organisation. For example, any corrective or preventive action report could identify a deficiency or an opportunity for improvement. The person responsible for the compliance monitoring function would then be required to ensure the identified issue was addressed and the corrective or preventive action effectively implemented. The same would be true if the discovery of an issue was identified during an inspection or audit.

(b)The effective implementation of change and the subsequent validation that the change did result in the desired outcome is critical to the continuous improvement process. Simply introducing a well-meaning suggestion for improvement into the organisation without carefully managing that change could have undesirable consequences. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the person in charge of the compliance monitoring function to introduce, monitor and validate improvement efforts.

(c)A simple but effective process to use in managing continuous improvement is known as the plan-do-check-act, or PDCA, approach:

(1)plan — map out the implementation of the recommended change, identifying at least:

(i)those people who will be affected by the change;

(ii)the required measures necessary to mitigate risk; and

(iii)the desired outcome and its intended consequences.

(2)do — execute the implementation plan once all affected groups have accepted the proposal and understand their role in ensuring its success;

(3)check — apply sufficient quality control ‘stage’ checks throughout the implementation phase to ensure any unintended deviations in the execution are identified and addressed without delay; and

(4)act — analyse the results and take appropriate action as necessary.

SIZE, NATURE AND COMPLEXITY OF THE ACTIVITY

(a)A training organisation should be considered as complex when it has a workforce of more than 20 full-time equivalents (FTEs) involved in the activity subject to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and its Implementing Rules.

(b)A training organisation with up to 20 FTEs involved in the activity subject to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and its Implementing Rules may also be considered complex based on an assessment of the following factors:

(1)the extent and scope of contracted activities subject to the certificate, in terms of complexity; and

(2)the different types of training provided, in terms of risk criteria. [applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]

(a)A training organisation should be considered complex when it has a workforce of more than 20 full-time equivalents (FTEs) involved in activities subject to Regulation (EC) 2018/1139 and its delegated and implementing acts.

(b)A training organisation with up to 20 FTEs involved in the activities subject to Regulation (EU 2018/1139 and its delegated and implementing acts may also be considered complex based on an assessment of the following factors:

(1)the extent and scope of contracted activities subject to the certificate, in terms of complexity; and

(2)the different types of training provided, in terms of risk criteria. [applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]