Released Date - January 28, 2010 AUST – AIRLINE: THE AUSTRALIAN                       PACNEWS BIZ: Thurs 28 Jan 2010   New rules for mud-on-floor airlines   28 JANUARY 2010 SYDNEY ( THE AUSTRALIAN) ----- Australian resources companies have helped spearhead a new international aviation standard to make flying safer for mining employees around the world.   The standard -- developed by the Melbourne office of the non-profit Flight Safety Foundation in conjunction with Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Lihir Gold and Minerals and Metals Group -- will provide an industry-wide safety approach to airline operations.   It aims to help prevent accidents that have affected resources companies in the past, by requiring all aviation contractors worldwide to adhere to the same basic risk-based standard.   Airlines contracting to do fly-in, fly-out work will also benefit because they will be subject to as little as one annual audit by the resources sector rather than multiple audits by different mining companies. Known as the Basic Aviation Risk (BAR) Standard, the program will be launched today.   It has been endorsed by the Minerals Council of Australia.   The global rollout will be managed from the federation's regional office in Melbourne.   “I think sometimes we forget about the aircraft with the mud on the floor mats, the working stuff ,” federation global chief executive Bill Voss said yesterday. "And this is really starting to touch something important.”   Managing risks across multiple aviation contractors with differing aircraft types in often remote regions around the world has always been a big challenge for mining companies, which often operate in regions where there is poor government oversight of aviation safety.   Differing standards among contractors and mining companies caused confusion and meant there were no clear industry benchmarks.   Mr Voss said a major weakness was that company-specific standards tended to be prescriptive and reactive, whereas BAR assessed the risk of failure and allowed operators to manage it.   “For anybody who has to contract for a lot of lift in difficult conditions, this sort of risk-based standard is exactly what they need,” he said.   FSF Australian regional director Paul Fox said the strength of the program was that it had been developed with people who needed it. The standard took on board all the leading thinking on risk-based safety systems and would allow audits based on a single standard, with the FSF overseeing the quality of audits and auditors.   Mr Fox said the audits would be particularly helpful in regions where regulatory oversight was an issue, such as Africa, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.   “It's really going to lift the bar,” Mr Fox said.   “The operators who fly for that sector will have to lift their game, otherwise they won't be in it.”….PNS (ENDS)