The Importance of Ramp Safety and How to Improve It
An argument could be made that an airside work environment, perhaps particularly the ramp, is like an incubator for accident risk. Airports are high-activity, high-stress workplaces, in which huge monetary losses that accrue during ground-time means working as quickly as possible is a must. On top of which, ground crews are driving dozens of specialized motorized vehicles, often hauling volatile chemicals to service massive aircraft, sometimes doing so in inclement weather. The briefest lapse in concentration, miscommunication, equipment failure, or operator-oversight in an aircraft tow tractor or baggage tug can (and does) result in costly and dangerous accidents. One of those accidents can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to vehicles and aircraft, sometimes even more costly ground-time for the airline, a lot of angry passengers, and worst of all, critical injury or worse for the crew members involved. Costly and dangerous as these accidents are, howe...