Strong call for dangerous goods training in express sector

A high number of incidents
involving hidden, undeclared
and mis-declared dangerous
goods is driving a growing
awareness of the legal
requirement that all staff in
the supply chain with access
to air cargo must undergo
dangerous goods training.
David Alexander, general
manager for aviation security
at Professional Aviation
Services, said the heightened
awareness had resulted in
a fast-growing demand for
all categories of dangerous
goods training in the express
freight industry. The
company, which specialises
in dangerous goods and air
cargo security compliance, is
the training partner of four
major courier organisations
and has a training facility
in Jet Park and branches in
Durban and Cape Town.
“The SA Civil Aviation
Authority (SACAA) is
focused on ensuring
compliance with the
training requirements of
Part 92 of the Civil Aviation
Regulations in the industry
so it is important that
organisations ensure their
dangerous goods compliance
training is up
to date,” he
said.
“There is
also a growing
demand for
specialist
courses such
as the safe
handling of
lithium ion
batteries and
infectious
substances
as both of
these commodities present
challenges for the industry,”
he said.
He added that aviation
security awareness training
covering Part 109 would
be available as an online
programme and the company
was ready to offer this service
once the recently revised Part
109 Regulations, currently
in the process of finalisation
at the Department of
Transport, came into effect.
The online
training will
assist local
industry to
achieve and
maintain
compliance.
Alexander
said airfreight
threats were
constantly
evolving and
legislation was
sometimes
slow to react
internationally due to the
number of stakeholders
involved.
“Companies must ensure
that they stay on top of
developments and a great
way of doing this is by active
participation in industry
organisations such as Saepa (SA
Express Parcels Association)
and Saaff (SA Association of
Freight Forwarders) who have
dedicated people who ensure
members are well informed.
The challenges to safety and
security are daunting and it
is only by way of industrywide
cooperation that these
challenges can be overcome,”
he said.
“This system will
revolutionise our training
management capability and
will allow us to offer our clients
total control of every aspect of
their training.”
He added that the company
had recently become the first
to be granted SA Civil Aviation
Authority sanction to present
a specialised Remotely Piloted
Aerial System (RPAS) drone
security awareness course
which had already been well
supported by the industry.
INSERT & CAPTION
Aviation security
awareness training
covering Part 109 will
be available as an
online programme.
– David Alexander