ORGH.DOC.110 Ground handling manual

GENERAL

(a)The GH manual or parts of it may be presented in any form, including electronic form. In all cases, the GH organisation should ensure that the manual is accessible, usable and reliable.

(b)The GH manual should be such that:

(1)all parts of it are consistent and compatible in form and content;

(2)it can be easily revised;

(3)the parts that address GHspecific processes and activities are clearly marked or separated so as not to be confused with other parts applicable to other domains if the organisation applies an integrated management system and holds other certificates, approvals or authorisations, or declares that it performs other activities in the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139;

(4)its content and revision status are controlled and clearly indicated.

(c)The GH manual should include a description of the process for its amendment and revision, specifying:

(1)the person(s) who may approve amendments or revisions;

(2)the specific conditions for temporary revisions and/or immediate amendments; and

(3)the methods by which all personnel and organisations, including the service providers contracted by the GH organisation and performing GH tasks, are advised of amendments to the manual.

(d)The GH manual’s content may be based on, or refer to, industry standards and good practices.

(e)The GH manual may contain parts of, or refer to, other relevant controlled documents, such as the aerodrome manual of the aerodrome where the GH organisation provides services, other manuals, industry standards or good practice material. If the GH organisation uses material from another source, that material should either be copied and included directly in the relevant part of the GH manual or the GH manual should contain a reference to the appropriate section of that applicable material.

(f)A translated version of the relevant parts of the GH manual is an accepted means of complying with the related relevant requirements. In any case, the persons who will use the manual or its translated parts should be able to read and understand them. The GH organisation should ensure that the translated version is always the most recent version of that document.

(g)The content of the GH manual should be reviewed to determine any necessary updates not later than every 24 months, to ensure that it remains current.

CONTENT OF THE GH MANUAL

(a)The GH manual should cover the following main topics, either as a single document or in several documents that are crossreferenced with one another (the order and numbering of the topics may vary; other topics may be added as well):

(0)administration and control of the GH manual;

(1)management system of the GH organisation:

1.1. organisational structure, including accountability and responsibilities,

1.2. personnel,

1.3. description of the management system, including:

1.3.1. SMS, including the ERPand emergency procedures of the aircraft operator(s) and aerodrome operator(s),

1.3.2. management of change,

1.3.3. compliance monitoring process, including an audit programme and procedure for continuing improvement,

1.3.4. procedures for reporting to the competent authority and other organisations, including notifying and reporting accidents, serious incidents, occurrences and nearmiss events and sharing safetyrelevant information,

1.3.5. procedures related to the consumption of alcohol, psychoactive substances and medicines,

1.3.6. documentation and recordkeeping system;

1.4. safety assurance of services contracted to organisations not subject to a certification or declaration scheme or an authorisation regime under an (EU) aviation regulation;

(2)training, assessment and qualification programmes for GH personnel:

2.1. identification and description of training standards and objectives,

2.2. required qualifications/competencies for each GH function/role,

2.3. training gap analysis — process and procedures,

2.4. training and assessment programme for each GH function/role in the organisation,

2.5. additional training (as defined by the GH organisation and as applicable for each GH function/role, which may be nonoperational training,

2.6. conditions (qualification criteria) for trainers/instructors and assessors;

(3)standard operational procedures and other guidance or instructions for each type of GH service provided, including:

3.1. procedures and instructions for the GH organisation,

3.2. procedures and instructions for the aerodrome operator,

3.3. procedures and instructions for the aircraft operator(s),

3.4. airside safety;

(4)GSE:

4.1. operation of GSE, including safety elements,

4.2. maintenance programme,

4.3. maintenance and repair instructions,

4.4. servicing information, troubleshooting and inspection procedures;

(5)dangerous goods tasks and procedures for each GH function/role;

(6)security procedures;

(b)The standard operational procedures mentioned in paragraph 3 of the GH manual should cover the following GH operations, as applicable, depending on the services provided by the GH organisation:

(1)passenger handling;

(2)baggage handling;

(3)aircraft servicing:

3.1. safety on the apron/ramp and safety and operation of GSE and other vehicles used for GH services,

3.2. hand signals for GSE,

3.3. aircraft refuelling and defuelling — that is, intoplane fuelling services at the aerodrome,

3.4. aircraft toilet servicing,

3.5. potable water servicing,

3.6. aircraft cleaning,

3.7. aircraft deicing and antiicing,

3.8. safe operations in adverse weather conditions;

(4)turnaround activities:

4.1. aircraft arrival,

4.2. aircraft chocking,

4.3. aircraft coning,

4.4. aircraft access doors,

4.5. aircraft loading and unloading,

4.6. aircraft departure,

4.7. aircraft pushback,

4.8. aircraft towing,

4.9. longterm aircraft parking;

(5)load control process:

5.1. principles,

5.2. tasks,

5.3. responsibilities,

5.4. the load control process itself and operational procedures including mass and balance calculations and load planning,

5.5. messaging and communication procedures,

5.6. documentation;

(6)ground supervision;

(7)cargo operations.

(c)The interfaces with the aerodrome operators and the aircraft operators should be highlighted in each section where they are established.

GH MANUAL

(a)Organisations may use different names for this manual, as the concept is not new. Depending on the type of organisation that provides GH services, this document may have different names, such as ‘ground operations manual’, ‘operations manual’, ‘ground service manual’ and ‘ground handling service manual’.

(b)The ‘GH manual’ is a generic name for the document or the set of documents used by the GH organisation to support it in discharging its responsibilities for the safe provision of GH services in compliance with the applicable requirements. It contains all the necessary instructions, information, policies, procedures for the provision of services, the training programme, the description of the organisation’s management system and the performance of duties by personnel, as well as for the operation and maintenance of the GSE used.

(c)The GH organisation has full freedom to decide how the content of its GH manual is integrated into its documentation system. For example, the GH manual could be either:

(1)a standalone document;

(2)a set of separate documents containing processes and procedures that cover its management system, with crossreferences to one another; or

(3)integrated in another of its existing manuals.

OTHER RELEVANT CONTROLLED DOCUMENTS

(a)Other relevant controlled documents that the GH organisation may use to develop its GH manual could be those developed by various organisations, such as ICAO, the competent authorities, aerodrome operators, aircraft operators, aircraft manufacturers and GSE manufacturers, or documents such as industry standards or manuals published by industry associations and organisations.

(b)Examples of documents that may be used:

(1)ICAO Annexes, documents and manuals;

(2)the manuals of the operators of the aerodromes where the GH organisation provides services;

(3)aircraft operators’ operations manuals;

(4)deicing manuals;

(5)aircraft fuelling manuals;

(6)aircraft manufacturers’ manuals;

(7)IATA documents and standards, such as but not limited to those referred to in GM1 ORGH.GEN.125;

(8)IBAC documents and standards for GH provided to business aviation operators;

(9)SAE standards for aircraft deicing/antiicing on the ground;

(10)good practice documents developed by the GH operations safety team;

(11)operational procedures for safety stacks at aerodromes;

(12)GSE manufacturers’ manuals.

ACCEPTABLE CONDITION OF A GH MANUAL The acceptable condition of a GH manual implies the following criteria, considering human factors principles. The list is not exhaustive:

(a)It is legible, the layout is clear and the content is organised in a logical way.

(b)The text and pictures, diagrams or charts are unambiguous, leaving no room for interpretation.

(c)The language is concise, coherent and easy to understand.

(d)Abbreviations and acronyms are spelled out in a list in the document in which they are used.

(e)Charts and diagrams are clear and easy to follow.

(f)If colour codes are used, they are explained in the manual and clearly differentiated.

(g)If any parts of the GH manual are translated, the translations do not contain operational errors that may jeopardise safety and they are up to date.

(h)Symbols are explained.