It is now more than a year since the Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) program kicked off in September 2010. It has steadily gained momentum, with additional BARS member organizations (BMOs) and aircraft operators (AOs) regularly joining the program.
BARS auditor training has taken place in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the trained auditors providing services to these accredited audit companies: Aviation Compliance Solutions (Australia), ARGUS PROS (U.S.), Asset Aviation International (Australia), AvLaw (Australia), Litson & Associates (South Africa), Morten Beyer & Agnew (U.S.) and Wake QA (U.K.). The first annual repeat audit was conducted in September.
When aircraft operators register for a BARS audit, they select an accredited audit company to carry out the audit, which is conducted by two auditors over two days. Each auditor has had extensive prior audit experience and has undergone specialist training leading to accreditation as a BARS auditor. Once the audit report has been completed and corrective action plans have been established, the aircraft operator may choose to release the report for viewing by BMOs.
The report is then only viewable by personnel within the BARS program office (BPO), the auditor, the aircraft operator and the BMOs. Corrective actions do not have to be completed before the report is released; in fact, it is desirable for the report to be released as soon as possible for viewing by the BMOs. More information on the process can be obtained by contacting the BPO.
We have introduced the program across five continents. More than 90 aircraft operators from around the globe either have completed or have registered to undergo a BARS audit, and we now have seven BARS-accredited audit companies. And eight of our aviation coordinator (AVCO) training courses have been held in four countries, with courses planned during late 2011 in Phoenix; Brisbane, Australia; and Singapore.
The two-day AVCO course provides participants with an understanding of the BARS program and how it can be used by the resources industry to help identify aviation safety risks. Participants use knowledge gained to review their companies’ aviation management policies and procedures and to formulate appropriate strategies to manage risks identified in day-to-day operations.
Personnel from all departments of resource-industry companies developing, monitoring and enhancing aviation safety activities can benefit from the AVCO course.
We have launched the first edition of BARS Program Update, a newsletter to be published every four months and circulated to all aircraft operators, audit companies and BMOs, plus other interested parties. In the first edition of the newsletter, I introduce a new member to our team — David Anderson, our new BARS audit manager — show off the ever-expanding list of aircraft operators and audit companies that have gone through BARS, introduce our BMOs and give you a brief introduction to the courses and events in the BARS program.