Ramp LOSA (R-LOSA): what it is and how to run one

Ramp LOSA is a way to find out how ground work is really done. Trained peers watch normal turnarounds, without jeopardy, and record the threats the team meets and how it manages them. This page explains how it works and how an organisation can run one itself.

What Ramp LOSA is

LOSA, the Line Operations Safety Audit, began on the flight deck: trained observers watch normal flights and record the threats crews meet, the errors that follow, and how the crew manages them. Ramp LOSA applies the same idea to ground operations. It was developed in the United States by an airline industry human factors task force, with FAA funding.

Nothing in it is a test of the crew. Observers are experienced ground personnel the crews trust, the observations are voluntary and de-identified, and nothing recorded is used for discipline.

What observers record

• Threats: conditions that make the turnaround harder, such as late load information, faulty equipment or another party's vehicle in the safety zone.
• Variations or errors: where the work as done differs from the plan.
• Undesired states: an unsafe situation, such as an irregular load or a near collision.
• How the team managed each one: managed, mismanaged or not managed.

How a programme runs

1. Agree it. Management and the workforce sign an agreement that observations are voluntary, de-identified and never used for discipline.
2. Train the observers. They learn to describe what they see in plain words and to code it the same way.
3. Observe normal turnarounds. Usually 75 to 100 turnarounds over a few weeks.
4. Check every observation. A small group confirms each one before it counts.
5. Look at the results. Which threats are most common, and which go with irregular loads, damage or near misses.
6. Decide changes with the people who do the work, then observe again to see whether the changes helped.

The stages are described in more detail in how it works and the first cycle.

Running one with NOMIC Ramp

NOMIC Ramp is built on the same principles, redeveloped for the ramp. It gives an organisation the observer course, the coding guide, a phone app for recording, the report and dashboard, and reference data from over 1,300 observed turnarounds to compare against from the first cycle. The organisation's own people run it, so there is no need to bring in outside auditors.

NOMIC Ramp is independent of ICAO, the FAA and The LOSA Collaborative. It is in the same family as Ramp LOSA and is not an accredited LOSA.