Initial Assessment EASA Part 147 Practical Assessors

Sofema Online (SOL) www.sofemaonline.com considers the typical process to manage the assessment of Practical Assessors

A practical Assessor is a nominated person who will determine the level of practical knowledge/practical skills of the trainees on a particular module, element, or part thereof. The function may include the drafting and/or the selection of practical tasks, as well as the performance of the practical instruction.

General Information concerning Assessment and acceptance of staff

>> Assessment and acceptance of instructors, examiners and assessors shall be performed, and documented by the approved training organisation in accordance with the dedicated procedure described in the MTOE.
>> Proposed candidates shall be physically interviewed by the appropriate staff or the training organisation in order to ensure their competency. 
>> Once completed, de detailed result of this assessment, including any supporting documents (diplomas, Part 66 licence, etc…) must be filed in accordance with MTOE procedure. 
>> All approved staff shall be listed in MTOE with intended scope instruction, examination or assessment detailed in the Terms of Reference

Assessment Criteria for a Practical Assessor - To be deemed competent, the practical assessors should be:

>> Fully knowledgeable in order to build a solid judgement regarding the abilities of the assessed trainees, the assessor should have the required knowledge and experience of the tasks to be assessed. 
>> He should also be able to determine if the trainee accomplishes the tasks i.a.w. current regulation, utilizing approved procedures, maintenance practices etc… He should additionally be knowledgeable about the rules and specific procedures (MTOE etc.) governing the performance of assessments in a controlled environment (Part 147 organisations).
>> Trained in assessment techniques. 
>> The assessor should be fully aware of the aim of the assessment and conduct a practical assessment in such a way that the true abilities of the candidate are demonstrated. 
>> These involve technical abilities but also the ability for the candidate to satisfactorily perform the tasks in an actual maintenance environment where basic principles of human factors apply (such as work performed under stressful conditions i.e. time or management pressure etc…).
>> Therefore, the assessor should remain neutral at all times, and behave in a manner that will not influence or prejudice the final result of the assessment, for example by providing assistance to a stressed candidate.
>> Proficient, and in particular the assessor should be familiar with the tools or the techniques used by the training organisation to assess the practical abilities of trainees (maintenance simulators, mock up and etc.).

Introduction - Assessment

>> Assessments should be competence-based.
>> For the purposes of this procedure, assessments are usually divided as:

o Initial assessment (for initial instructor qualification)
o Continuation assessment (part of the organization’s rolling quality auditing)

The Training Manager is required to initially assess Practical Assessors' competence as defined (See additional module on Competence Assessment)

Note: As part of the organization’s audit plan, authorized Instructors are assessed at least once every 24 months, during the validity period of his/her training authorization.

>> Assessments may also be performed for evaluation purposes or randomly completed as part of the Part 147 Internal Audit Program.

The results of the assessment will always be discussed with the Practical Assessor / Instructor concerned

>> To be considered as part of the Continuous Professional Development.
>> Note: Unsatisfactory assessments will be dealt with by the Training Manager as required and corrective action will be taken and implemented.

Completed and signed Assessment Forms are to be filed in the personnel records folder.

Next Steps

Sofema Aviation Services www.sassofia.com and Sofema Online www.sofemaonline.com provide Classroom, Webinar, and Online training related to regulatory compliance with EASA Part 147 & EASA Part 66. For additional details please visit our websites or email team@sassofia.com