ORGH.GEN.125 Use of industry standards

USE OF INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND GOOD PRACTICES

(a)For the purpose of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20, industry standards and good practices are documented technical or operational instructions, procedures or specifications applied on a wide scale in the GH industry that establish norms, principles and criteria to standardise various aspects of GH operations, processes, products or equipment.

(b)The GH organisation may apply one or more industry standards and good practices on a voluntary basis to comply with the implementing rules. The industry standard may cover any of the following elements:

(1)management of a GH organisation, including its SMS, documentation system, compliance monitoring function, contracted services and emergency response plan (ERP);

(2)standard operational procedures for the provision of GH services and any physical or virtual tools, equipment, applications or programmes used;

(3)training for the GH functions;

(4)technical and/or safety specifications for products and equipment used to provide GH services.

(c)The organisation should ensure that the industry standards and good practices that it uses to comply with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20 meet the criteria for safety and quality of AMC2 ORGH.GEN.125.

(d)The GH organisation should document deviations from the applicable industry standards that affect safety of operation. Where deemed relevant, the organisation should conduct a safety risk assessment for those deviations. Use of industry standards and good practices — internal compliance monitoring checks

(e)When the GH organisation uses industry standards and good practices to comply with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20, the internal compliance monitoring checks should include a random verification of the correct application of those industry standards and good practices. Use of a thirdparty service provider to verify conformity with industry standards

(f)The GH organisation should comply with point ORGH.MGM.205 for contracted services when a thirdparty industry auditor verifies the organisation’s conformity with industry standards and good practices. The GH organisation should also ensure that there is no conflict of interest of the thirdparty auditors with the audited organisation.

(g)The GH organisation should remain aware that conformity with the industry standards and good practices demonstrated through thirdparty industry audits does not automatically presume compliance with the implementing rules.

OBJECTIVE CRITERIA FOR INDUSTRY STANDARDS

(a)The industry standards used to demonstrate compliance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20, including those that are subject to the evaluation referred to in point ARGH.OVS.310 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/23, should meet the following criteria as a minimum:

(1)they are developed, maintained and endorsed with the participation of experts from relevant industry stakeholders;

(2)they address the scope of Annex I and/or II to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20, as applicable, with sufficient details to enable implementation of the related implementing rules;

(3)they are based on experience in the field and have proven themselves through testing;

(4)they are supported by scientific and/or technical data and documentation, safety tests and safety impact assessments, as applicable;

(5)they include technical, operational and, if applicable, human factors specifications for their safe implementation;

(6)they clearly identify the responsibilities of the persons involved in their application;

(7)they contain procedures for continuing review and improvement, to include lessons learned from daily operations and consider relevant innovations in the field.

RELEVANT INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS

(b)The industry stakeholders represented in the development, maintenance and endorsement of an industry standard should include but not be limited to aircraft operators, GH organisations, aerodrome operators, product manufacturers, GSE manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, and regional or global industry associations thereof, as applicable. The aim of their inclusion is to ensure that all stakeholders involved in the development and maintenance of industry standards are also involved in their endorsement.

INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND GOOD PRACTICES IN THE SCOPE

(a)Industry standards and good practices refer to several documents developed by industry and used by organisations for the provision of GH services, which may be used to implement the requirements of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20.

(b)Examples of industry standards and good practices adopted by industry are as follows:

(1)IATA Ground Operations Manual (IGOM),

(2)IATA Airport Handling Manual (AHM),

(3)IATA Cargo Handling Manual (ICHM),

(4)IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR),

(5)IATA Live Animals Regulations (LAR),

(6)IATA Perishable Cargo Regulations (PCR),

(7)IATA ULD Regulations (ULDR),

(8)JIG standards related to fuelling,

(9)SAE standards related to aircraft ground deicing and antiicing,

(10)EN standards for GSE (EN 123121 to 1231220 and EN 19151 to 19154),

(11)IBAC International Standard for Business Aircraft Handlers regarding GH (ISBAH) for business aviation operations.