What was seen as “just a transect walk” to view Swissport’s safe operations had turned into a safety compliance learning experience for the remaining part of the day.
Beginning right at the entrance, we had inquiries from the Swissport security personnel to allow us in the building.
Inside the office we sat on an elegant leather sofa cascading sweat of inquisition down our spines but breathing fresh air from the multiple freezing ACs around us as we were waiting for our host, we caught a glimpse of safety signs and alerts almost in every corner.
The firm’s Quality Health, Safety and Compliance Manager, Mr Deogratius Haule, turned up and took us into his office for a safety talk before being taken around larger-than-life premises.
Mr Haule shared with us safety measures and precautions we should take while visiting warehouses, a maintenance workshop and ramp. These areas need someone to wear protective gear.
At warehouses
On our way to the cargo warehouses with safety boots and reflectors on, we stopped at the entrance gate for yet another security checks.
Welcoming us to the state of the art facility that only processes cargo as it enters and exits the airport was colorful. A mix of machines and human activities was obvious.
At the import warehouse, there are blue-colored walkways and spacious grey-colored lanes for operation, only demarcated by yellow stripes in between, purposely to keep the movements of vehicles, machines and human interactions safe..
Mid-sized convex mirrors hung onto the wall for 360 degrees safe sighting inside the warehouse. In addition, there are special “Very Narrow Aisle (VNA)” forklifts’ driveways to help move goods from one place to another safely.
Mr Linus Musavangi, team leader at the warehouse took us through safety tips on handling and storage of cargo, depending on their nature as general cargo, valuable cargo (such as gold reserve, and jewelry), dangerous goods, chemicals, radiation, perishable goods, pets, and morgue.
Safety guidelines and warehouse storages process for the export cargo warehouse are not so much different from that of import. In addition, there are weighing scales for checking the actual gross weight of cargo consignments, X-ray scanners that detect dangerous cargo before being loaded in a plane to avoid it and its occupants being at risk.
At maintenance workshop
At this workshop, the focus was still on safety, from working to the entire purpose of maintaining different equipment. Yovine Shine, head of fleet management at Swissport, says the workshop fixes all ground support equipment (GSE) that help to provide fundamental services during the handling of aircraft and cargo.
Safe operations are dependent of the repairs and preventive maintenance conducted here. Details and information to track the maintenance programs for all the equipment are carefully monitored through a management system (MAXIMO).
“Whenever we repair these facilities, we directly abide by manufacturers’ manuals because when you do otherwise, the GSE will not work at the same level of its expected performance or might misbehave to the point of risking ongoing operations,” hinted Eng. Shine.
A group photo of Swissport staff celebrate behind the ATCL’s largest aicraft, Airbus.
At ramp
Like at the warehouse, there was a mix of human, machine operations. Staff who operated conveyor belts to load bags and cargo in the plane were carrying out the task noticeably smooth and carefully while fully protected by safety gear. The coordinated movement of vehicles, staff, use of hand signals, positioning of chokes and cones marking aircraft perimeters, further demonstrated to details safety protocols around this area.
Head of ramp, Salum Juma said they had the best team of trained staff on their tasks, working by observing a set of Standard Operating Procedures and directives to make sure everything went as planned.
”We are proud of the fostered safety culture within the company that ensures the maximum safety of our operations that are hailed by our clients and that’s why we are the leading ground handler in the market,” said.
After being carried away with the operation, Mr Haule introduced us to a team of dynamic young men, who were working hard behind the scenes to ensure a plane was with the proper balanced weigh before taking off.
Training
Swissport has a comprehensive training program in conformance with IGOM (IATA) as well as compliant to the Tanzania Civil Aviation (TCAA) standards.
He further expounded on two categories from the training program offered to the staff. One wing is for the Mandatory training which focuses on Health and Safety, Dangerous Good (DG) handling,
Aviation security (AVSEC), Fire safety, Human factor, and Data protection. The other wing is functional training which focuses on job specific function e.g., Ramp, cargo, security, Passenger service etc. and this explains why the Swissport staff are still the best in Ground and Cargo handling services in the country.
Swissport also boasts a training centre certified by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) to offer IATA and TCAA accredited courses to external stakeholders.
“We do not deploy any staff in operation before attending training, that’s our policy.” added Mr. Omary, who also stated that the company possessed a training management system used to maintain the employees’ training records.
Talks with CEO
Speaking with the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mrisho Yassin, further enlightened on how serious the safety culture was embraced and applied at Swissport.
“At Swissport, we do not compromise on safety when providing services to our esteemed airline customers. We are committed to providing quality services but at the same time keeping everyone safe, ” said Mr Yassin.
He added that the implementation of various management systems such as Safety Management System (SMS) had been the cornerstone to ensure that the organization delivered high quality and safe performance.
According to the CEO, the Swissport operations are guided strictly by the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which conform to the ISAGO standards.
To enhance its safety performance, the company has also invested in handling facilities, modern ground support equipment, human resources, leadership, reporting systems and safety related policies.
He says there is a safety management tool (SMT) that checks implementation of the safety policy of the company across its entire business.
The staff are encouraged to report the safety incidents, freely and anonymously at any time. Such reports are used as learning points and for enhancing the safety of operations.
When asked how the firm’s responsive action was during the outbreak of the pandemic, he replied to us that it was one of the tumultuous spells to have ever happened in the business climate, posting a drastic slump in business volumes as well as revenues both in ground handling and cargo services.
However, he said the cargo business was resilient over the ground handling business due to the increase in cargo demands across the world.
“We had to abruptly adapt to the changing times with retrenchment and cost-cutting measures taken to stay afloat while making sure our staff were spared from the Covid-19,” said Mr Yassin.
The Swissport boss’s aspiration is to see the company continues to embrace the safety culture, spearheading the initiatives and setting an example for others to follow.
Closing the day with smiles
We finally found ourselves closing classes at 04:45 pm during the day with smiles after spending long hours that made us exhausted, giggling at our failed plan of spending less than 2 hours at the premises and instead we ended up spending up to 6 hours.
However, we were well informed about the significance of safety in every aspect of what humans were doing within the world of ground handling. Thanks to our instructors, the CEO Mr Mrisho and Mr Haule, this was the best tour ever!
About Swissport
Swissport International Ltd has been operating in Tanzania since 2000 following the acquisition of 51% of DAHACO shares (now Swissport Tanzania Plc.) and became the majority shareholder. The remaining 49% of the shares of Swissport Tanzania are owned by various investors through the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. Currently, the Company operates at both Julius Nyerere and Kilimanjaro international airports.
Swissport International Ltd. (Swissport) is the world’s leading global provider of airport ground and air cargo handling services based in Zurich, Switzerland.
The company has provided ground services for more than 82 million passengers and handles 4.1 million tonnes of cargo a year on behalf of some 850 client-companies in the aviation sector. With a workforce of more than 45,000 personnel, Swissport is active at more than 269 stations in 47 countries across six continents.
