Effective Performance of EASA - GCAA Aircraft Base Maintenance Audits
Practical Base Maintenance Audits - Advanced Techniques for Auditing Workshops
A SofemaOnline Review (www.sofemaonline.com)
Auditing workshops
What is Unique within the Workshop Environment is that there is no Workshop Licence – So, for this reason, it is necessary to pay particular attention to the competence of the workshop certification personnel.
A typical workshop audit would start with the Organisations Quality System and ask the questions:
1. What Audits did you perform within your Workshops & what findings did you observe in the last 12 months?
2. For each finding to the ask:
a) Was it closed out effectively?
b) How was this demonstrated?
c) Check a Sample (often the source of further findings)
3. Now to look at the Workshop Process & Procedures
a) Who is responsible for the procedures?
b) Are they up to date?
c) How effective are the procedures?
d) How is this measured?
e) Is the local area internal reporting system working? (evidenced by raised reports)
4. Now look at the actual process – follow it through from receipt to completion & certification, then with your knowledge of the procedures gap analyse and confirm the procedure is being followed
Important Notes
A/ Item 3 above must be performed before Item 4.
Why? Because when item 4 is carried out in details it is understood that there are variations from the procedure – deviations are basically workarounds/shortcuts because the process does not work. (And a workaround is easier to engage with than the formal process.)
B/ When you find evidence of the workaround means deviation (And you will if you look!)
You now have the following findings:
i. During the audit it was observed that the physical procedure to xxxxx deviates from the documented procedure xxxxx
ii. The Workshop Manager (In-Charge) was not aware of this deviation due to lack of oversite/supervision
iii. XYZ Quality Assurance has failed to identify the discrepancy between physical activity and documented procedure
So you now have 3 findings from a single event, such auditing activity raises the bar and draws the organisations attention to a lower level of performance – never loose sight of the fact that you are representing the operator and expect a high level of service.
5. Now to look at Manpower
a) Who is responsible for the Manpower Control Procedures?
b) Are they up to date?
c) How effective are the procedures?
d) How is this measured?
e) Is the local area internal reporting system working? (Evidenced by raised reports)
f) Now review the assessment process for workload versus – manpower availability is it acceptable? (Looking at the current situation – take into consideration leave/absence & training) is it still ok?
g) Who is managing competence for this group? (What process/procedures – training are involved to manage competence)
h) Sample Competence assessment of several certifying staff asking the following:
i) What is the criteria for assessment? (Consider that personal opinion of the business area owner only without a baseline standard is a weak system)
ii) What qualification compensation can be demonstrated compared with Hangar Staff for example for the lack of AMEL?
Important Notes
During audit discussions, you will be provided with all manner of comments & observations. Be careful as often these are either hearsay or personal opinion so to be careful. All findings should be against a standard (observations are possible but should be carefully constructed).
Example findings
i/ The procedure for managing competence of Workshop Certifying Staff does not include all roles required within the workshop.
6. Training Related Considerations with Workshops
a) What training is required for the business area? (Who is responsible to identify this and how effective is the process?)
b) Has a Training Needs Analysis been performed (Note this is not mandatory but serves as an indicator of where are the problems)
c) Speak to the workers to ask if they are happy with the training or they believe there is a need (Note this is only an opinion and carries no weight) – however ask the worker if they have submitted there observation/request into the internal reporting system (willingness to Engage is an indicator of an effective system).
d) Ask the business leader what problems they experience related to training (often they write the findings for you – manpower etc.)
Example Observation
i/ The training need of xxxx department has not been evaluated to determine sufficiency – recommend that a review be carried out to determine the appropriate training for each role within the xxxx department. (We need to encourage the auditee to develop procedures which can then be called on as relevant audit criteria.)
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