Reach
Issue 8 2015
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13
A
number of public safety
agencies and individuals
come together to ensure
that airport operations run as
smoothly as possible, with effective
communications and coordination
playing an essential role. Our Reach
reporter visited Heathrow with the
kind permission of Heathrow Fire
and Rescue to find out how a change
in inter-agency interoperability has
benefited the management team in
managing incidents.
In the event of an incident,
Heathrow has four key management
focus areas:
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The Airfield Duty Manager (AfDM)
– the manager on duty airside has
the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
licence to operate the airport,
and is responsible for ensuring
the airport meets the CAA
criteria for operation. If it doesn’t
– for instance if not enough
fire appliances are available on
standby – the airport will be closed
until the situation is remedied.
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»
The Airport Operations Manager
(AOM) – responsible for the
day-to-day running of Heathrow
Airport as a whole including
terminals, security and the airfield
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»
Heathrow Airport Fire and Rescue,
privately owned by Heathrow
Airport Holdings Limited.
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Category 1 (blue light responders)
– the Metropolitan Police Service
(MPS) are the primary sponsors
of this initiative and have a station
on site at Heathrow. Neighbouring
Ambulance and Fire and Rescue
Services are also available if
required to support the Heathrow
Fire Service.
This vast team conducts regular ‘major
incident’ training exercises, both
desk-based and practical, which are
thoroughly reviewed to ensure that
responses are the best they can be. It
was during one such review that the
issue of inter-agency communications
was placed firmly on the table.
With the number of agencies
involved, lines of communication
can be complex. With a variety of
systems in use, including the Airwave
Service, mobile phones, and the
airport’s own trunked radio network,
links can be disrupted and security of
communications compromised, with
commands being relayed through two
control rooms.
The drive to implement a better
way of communicating came from
Gary Barthram, Senior Airport Fire
Manager, Heathrow Airport Fire
and Rescue.
“We all agreed that we needed to
streamline communications, so to
ensure everyone was on board who
needed to be, all the agencies that had
a stake in the security of Heathrow
Airport came together and formed
a committee* (see box, page 16) to
evaluate the options and decide on
the way forward,” said Gary. “We
needed these key people to be in
constant communication, with no
This project was a textbook
example of identifying areas
for improvement, running a
business impact analysis,
identifying a solution, trialling,
assessing, incorporating
feedback and implementing
the new process – it’s now a
standard part of our working
day, and the Airwave Service
has proved its worth.
Gary Barthram, Senior Airport
Fire Manager, Heathrow Airport
Fire and Rescue
A textbook example
of embedding
best practice
London Heathrow Airport is the busiest international airport in the world, with more than
72 million passengers arriving and departing during 2013. Covering 1,227 hectares (more
than 3,000 acres), and employing some 77,000 people, the airport is a microcosm of the
most complex city with all its attendant challenges, on top of some 1,300 flights arriving
and departing each day.
