NOMIC Ramp · nomicramp.com · [email protected]
NOMIC Ramp and the safety management system
A safety management system needs data from normal work. NOMIC Ramp gives an organisation that data, and a way to check that the changes it makes work.
The rules for ground handling are changing
Ground handling is now being regulated for safety in its own right.
- Europe. Regulations (EU) 2025/20 and 2025/23 bring ground handlers under EASA's safety rules. Handlers need a safety management system, trained and assessed staff, a declaration to their authority and an internal compliance monitoring function, and authorities oversee them under matching requirements. Most provisions apply from 27 March 2028, and declarations can be submitted from 27 March 2027 by arrangement with the authority. The rules allow industry standards such as IATA's IGOM to be used.
- ICAO. Amendment 18 to Annex 14 Volume I adds provisions on the safety oversight of ground handling. The ground handling provisions apply from 26 November 2026.
- Audit schemes. IATA introduced a new ISAGO audit method in 2025, with a gap analysis followed by an on-site assessment, based on IGOM and the IATA Airport Handling Manual.
- United Kingdom. After consulting, the Civil Aviation Authority is taking forward a declaration-based approach with risk-based oversight, and has proposed a three-year transition once its regulations come into force.
- United States. The FAA is reviewing ramp worker safety under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, and has asked ramp workers and others for input through a national questionnaire.
All of this points the same way: handlers are being asked to show that they find hazards in their own operations, monitor how they perform and improve over time. That is where NOMIC Ramp helps.
What a safety management system asks for
Whether an organisation works to the ICAO safety management framework (Annex 19) or to the new European rules for ground handlers, the same things are expected: find hazards, assess and control the risks, check that the controls work, and keep improving.
What the system needs, and what NOMIC Ramp gives it
| The safety management system needs to | NOMIC Ramp gives it |
|---|---|
| Find hazards before they cause harm, including human factors and hazards that come from other parties | Trained observers from the organisation's own ground staff record the threats teams meet in normal turnarounds and how the teams handle them, including threats from other parties such as load control, freight and equipment. |
| Monitor safety performance with more than incident counts | Rates per turnaround and how often threats are managed, reviewed each cycle. Incident reports show the bad days; NOMIC Ramp shows the pattern across the normal ones. |
| Check that changes work | The next cycle runs with the same codes, so the results can be compared. |
| Review procedures against the way the work is really done | Where work as done differs from work as imagined, so the people who own the procedures can see where they don't fit the job. |
| Involve the workforce | Observers are peers, and the Learning Team pack brings the findings back to the crews and to the safety committee. |
What NOMIC Ramp is not
NOMIC Ramp does not replace incident reporting or compliance monitoring. It adds the picture of normal work. Results are de-identified and never reported by individual or crew, so it is not an audit of people.
What the European rules say about monitoring
Under Regulation (EU) 2025/20, ground handlers run a safety management system that covers hazard identification, safety performance monitoring and continuing improvement. EASA's guidance lists safety surveys of daily operations as one way to monitor safety performance. NOMIC Ramp is one way to do that.
No regulator has approved NOMIC, and using it does not by itself show that an organisation meets any requirement. Check with the authority.
Source: EASA, Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material to Annex I (Part-ORGH) to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20, Issue 1.
See also how NOMIC Ramp fits alongside IGOM, ISAGO, Ramp LOSA and the SMS.