The document ‘Proposal for a Competency Framework for the Competent Authorities' Inspectors’ is now available on the EASA website. This report illustrates the outcome of the Working Group established by EASA Management Board that developed a competency framework for Civil Aviation Authority Inspectors.
Appropriate inspector competence is an essential enabler for the implementation of a Performance Based Environment, where the Authorities’ interaction with overseen organisations and decision-making is based on multiple elements to be combined by expert judgement. To follow-up the work done on Risk-based oversight, it was felt necessary to identify the additional competences to enact this approach, which have to be held on top of the traditional domain-specific technical expertise. The focus was in particular towards a more proportionate style requiring constant dialogue with the overseen organisation in order to better understand how risks are mitigated, to assess the effectiveness of the mitigation process and the level of maturity of the organisation’s safety management system.
The proposed competency model would therefore allow inspectors to act as an essential catalyst for the implementation of safety management and risk/performance-based oversight in the aviation system. Authorities may consider these competencies either to complement their existing frameworks or use them as a starting point in identifying the competencies they need to meet their specific organisational needs.
Inquiries, comments or requests for clarification can be sent to Mr gian-andrea.bandieri [at] easa.europa.eu (Gian Andrea Bandieri).