AMC2 21.A.145(a) Approval Requirements

CAA ORS9 Decision No. 40

RESOURCES - STAFF NUMBER AND COMPETENCY

  1. Sufficient personnel means that, for each function, according to the nature of the work and the production rate, the organisation has a sufficient number of qualified staff to accomplish all the specified manufacturing tasks and to attest the conformity of such tasks. The number of staff should be such that the relevant airworthiness considerations may be applied in all areas without any undue pressure.

  2. The organisation should have a system in place to plan the availability of staff to ensure that the organisation has sufficient appropriately qualified staff to plan, perform, supervise, inspect, and monitor the organisation’s activities in accordance with the organisation’s terms of approval.

  3. The organisation should establish and control the competency of the staff that is involved in activities of the organisation, as detailed in the organisation’s terms of approval, in accordance with documented procedures. In addition to the necessary expertise that is related to the job function, the competency of the staff should include an understanding of safety management and human factors (HF) principles, which is appropriate to the staff member’s function and responsibilities in the organisation.

  4. An evaluation of the competence of personnel is performed as part of the quality management element of the production management system. This should include, where appropriate, verification that specific qualification standards have been implemented, for example NDT, welding, etc. Training should be organised to establish and maintain the competence levels determined by the organisation to be necessary.

  5. To assist in the assessment of competency and to perform the analysis of the training needs, job (job family) descriptions are recommended, which should contain sufficient criteria to enable the required competency assessment throughout the duration of the employment/contract.

  6. The organisation should develop a procedure that describes the process for assessing the competency of the staff. The procedure should specify:

    1. the staff that are responsible for that process;

    2. the means and methods for the initial assessment;

    3. the means and methods for the continuous control of the competency of the personnel, including feedback on their performance;

    4. the action to be taken if the assessment is not satisfactory; and

    5. how to record assessment results.

  7. Adequate initial and recurrent training should be provided in relation to the job function to ensure that staff remain competent. That training should be adapted based on experience that is gained within the organisation (for safety training, refer also to AMC1 21.A.139(c)(5)(i)).

  8. The organisation should record the training that is provided as described in point (g).