New Thinking in Baggage Handling

Dr John F. Culvenor

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Introduction:

On its journey from the departure check-in counter to the arrival carousel a passenger's suitcase is carried by many machines; conveyors, sorters, tugs, trailers, belt-loaders, containers, and of course the aircraft itself.  Wherever these machines do not join together properly we find a human bridging the gap; and suffering injuries as a result.  If this process does not change then these damaging results will not change.  Excellence in safety improvement can only be sustainably achieved through process transformation.  Better ways of getting things done sometimes fall into our lap but this is a haphazard approach.  Setting a goal of safe design creates a reason to look for better ideas.  Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention.  Qantas created such a driver by setting a "elimination of injuries" target with a vision of creating a culture of ground safety to match that in the air.  On behalf of Qantas Airways, John has taken a look at what this would take in the area of baggage handling.  The possibility of using a reduced bag weight limit is one idea on the table at present within the airline industry.  Will it be enough?  If not what will it take to make baggage handling safety meet the "elimination of injuries" vision? 

Full Reference:

Culvenor, J. 2007, ‘New Thinking in Baggage Handling’, Keynote Address to the National Safety Council International Air Transport Section (ARTEX) Conference, Auckland 14-15 February 2007.

 

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