JIG has launched its ‘Quality First’ initiative to enable all JIG members to have their operations inspected to JIG Standards. The program also aims to train and qualify a wider pool of inspectors to meet the increased workload.
JIG is the international aviation industry forum where experts come together to manage operational risk in aviation fuel storage, handling and distribution. Through its operating standards and inspection checklists JIG already sets a quality threshold, but under the old JIG Inspection Policy not all member sites could be recognised as operating to JIG Standards. The new JIG Inspection Policy makes a closer connection between membership of JIG and compliance with JIG Standards, so that those members that achieve the JIG Standards can be publicly acknowledged.
According to Tony Conway, JIG General Manager: “Many members already operate to JIG Standards but have previously not be able to have their hard work recognized. They have consistently asked JIG to look at a way of acknowledging those inspections. By establishing a new framework within which they can be assessed by qualified JIG Inspectors they can now receive the recognition they deserve.”
The new JIG Inspection Policy gives members considerable flexibility in their approach to being inspected. Members that have qualified JIG Inspectors on their staff may use them to inspect their own operations as long as the Inspector is not based at the site they are inspecting. Or, like members that do not have any qualified Inspectors on their staff, they can use qualified JIG Inspectors from the JIG management team or from other third parties.
Anonymized data and findings from these inspections will be analysed by JIG, further enhancing the information on industry trends and best practice JIG currently shares with all members through its ‘most common inspection findings’, its publications and its training programs and workshops.
Inspected to JIG Standards is partly a self-declaration process and, although JIG does not take responsibility for inspections carried out by third parties, it will review the inspections submitted for consistency with the JIG Inspection process and JIG Standards and to confirm all Inspectors have successfully completed the JIG training and met the further inspection criteria.
Benefits to JIG members and to the industry
“In addition to the reputational benefits of having their sites designated as ‘Inspected to JIG Standards’, members will benefit from their involvement in the program through the valuable feedback they gain directly from the inspectors. At the same time, widening the number of sites captured in our databases will significantly improve the quality of the broader information we provide to members on industry trends and best practice,” says Antonis Christodoulakis, JIG’s new Technical Manager. “Although I have only been with JIG since November, it has been great to play a part in the development of this program and deliver another exciting benefit to JIG’s members.”
JIG’s new Quality First initiative is closely aligned with broader industry efforts to raise the level of safety and quality in the aviation fuel industry worldwide. The Surabaya incident in 2010 – where contaminated fuel cause severe damage to the engines of a commercial flight – was a reminder that assurance of safety and quality in aviation fuel handling, storage and distribution is vital. But even with the efforts of JIG, IATA’s IFQP and the airlines, some airports around the world are still not covered by any independent assurance process. At the same time some airports, especially the major ones, are inspected many times a year by different parties.
“There is an assurance challenge facing airlines and we hope that JIG’s Quality First initiative will not only make more inspection resources available, but also help the airlines develop even more confidence in the JIG assurance process, so that they can deploy their resources away from JIG member locations and extend coverage to other IATA locations that are not yet inspected at all,” says Conway.
John Buxton, JIG Council Chair, concludes: “This is a highly flexible framework geared to the needs of our members. We are very excited about the benefits it will bring both to JIG members and to the wider aviation industry.”
