Mar 31, 2017 | Departments, Home, Safety |
To help collect the kind of information that can create a safer workplace, United and Hawaiian Airlines use a program called “GSAP.” (“Ground Operations Safety Action Program.”)
The GSAP allows employees to report safety concerns directly to Federal regulators and company decision makers who can then track injuries, their causes and suggest potential fixes. GSAP reporting is a great tool, that has put the power to enforce safety rules back into the hands of front-line workers.
But what about airlines that do not have a GSAP as an option for their workers?
IAM Members that do not have GSAP reporting at their airline can now report injuries, unsafe facilities or equipment and other safety related concerns to safety experts at District 141. This can be done with the UnionSafe program.
The UnionSafe reporting program, developed at Local 1776 (PHL), tracks injuries and safety complaints at member airlines around the nation. The program works like this:
STEP ONE:
An airline employee sees unsafe equipment or conditions at work, and reports their concerns to a supervisor immediately.
STEP TWO:
To make sure that the issue is recorded and tracked, the employee can use their smartphone to send the information (including a photo) anonymously to the UnionSafe website.
STEP THREE:
The information will be stored and tracked by IAM members. If needed, it can be used in Grievance hearings, OSHA complaints and other safety actions.
The data collected in the UnionSafe program is already making airline work safer for thousands of IAM members, and can offer valuable safety tools when a GSAP is not available.
Learn more at UnionSafe141.org.
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Mar 7, 2016 | Departments, Home, Safety |
Fourteen new IAM CREST Associate Instructors from Districts 141 and 142 completed a train-the-trainer program on transporting dangerous goods in the airline industry.
Approximately 6,300 TCU-IAM airline and railroad workers will receive training in transporting hazardous materials thanks to a nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant also includes training for TWU airline workers.
The grant is the largest ever for IAM CREST, the Corporation for Reemployment and Safety Training, and will teach 90 members how to train thousands more workers on the hazards of storing, shipping, loading and unloading dangerous goods in the airline and railroad industries.
IAM members should contact their Local or District Safety and Health Committees to be considered to become trainers.
“The health and safety of our members is always paramount,” said IAM Safety and Health Director Jim Reid. “It’s incumbent upon us and employers to make sure our members have the proper training to go to work and return home safely every day. This grant will help us work to achieve that.”
Since 2008, IAM CREST has been the beneficiary of a DOT Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration grant to provide airline workers with training from IAM CREST instructors. In 2014, the grant was expanded to include railroad workers. The latest grant supports existing training through employers not in duplication of those efforts.
Jan 13, 2016 | Departments, Home, Safety
Just last year, twelve members from IAM District Lodge 141, ten from Local Lodge 1487 Chicago O’Hare and two from Local Lodge 1351 Seattle working at United Airlines, completed the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 40-Hour Hazardous Material Instructor Train-The-Trainer Course held at Local Lodge 1487 located in Chicago, Illinois.
The Train-The-Trainer course was developed by IAM CREST in cooperation with IAM IAM District Lodge 141 and United Airlines specifically to enhance the required dangerous goods training provided by United Airlines. After successfully completing the course these IAM CREST DOT Associate Instructors will be authorized to deliver Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Awareness Training Course to workers who handle dangerous goods by air.
Training of DOT HMAT Associate Instructors and workers who handle hazardous materials is funded under a grant by the DOT Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration.
