Audit readiness check

Would your training program pass a visit this week?

Twenty statements, the ones a principal maintenance inspector or an AS9110 auditor works through, each tied to the rule or guidance behind it. Answer them as you are today. Your score and the gaps show here; the full mock audit report, with the document request list and how to close each gap, is emailed to you. About six minutes.

0 of 20 answered

The program

  1. 1

    Your training program is approved by the FAA, and you can put your hands on the approval letter today.

    A Part 135 operator's program is accepted as part of its manual instead; answer for whichever applies. A shop without a certificate or an AS9110 only organization answers for management's approval.

    14 CFR 145.163(a)

  2. 2

    The program document is revision controlled, and every revision was submitted to your responsible Flight Standards office before it was used.

    14 CFR 145.163(d), 145.209(e)

  3. 3

    A written needs assessment ties each job position and each capability on your ratings to the training it requires.

    AC 145-10 para 401

  4. 4

    Each item has a defined recurrent interval (12 months, 24 months, and so on) written in the program, not 'as needed'.

    14 CFR 145.163(a); AC 145-10 para 303

  5. 5

    Maintenance human factors training is in the program, initial and recurrent, and it is being delivered.

    The FAA recommends it; an AS9110 registrar and an EASA approval expect it.

    AC 145-10 para 301(b)(4); AS9110

The people

  1. 6

    Your roster of management, supervisory and inspection personnel and of people authorized to sign a maintenance release is current, and changes are recorded within 5 business days.

    14 CFR 145.161(a), (b)

  2. 7

    Everyone on the roster has an employment summary: present title, total years of experience, past relevant employment, scope of present employment, and certificates and ratings.

    14 CFR 145.161(a)(4)

  3. 8

    You can show that each supervisor and inspector was trained on the regulations that apply to them and on the inspection methods and equipment they use, with dates.

    14 CFR 145.153, 145.155

  4. 9

    People who handle, prepare or ship hazardous materials have initial training and recurrent training within the last three years, and each record names the trainer.

    If your station is not a hazmat employer under 49 CFR 171.8, answer Yes.

    14 CFR 145.165; 49 CFR 172.704

  5. 10

    A new hire, a transfer or a contract worker completes indoctrination and a needs assessment before working unsupervised, and the record shows it.

    Contract and temporary personnel count; the station stays responsible for their training.

    14 CFR 145.163(b); AC 145-10 paras 200(d), 301, 404(c)

The records

  1. 11

    You can produce one technician's complete training record (every item, date, instructor and signature) within an hour, in a format the FAA has accepted.

    14 CFR 145.163(c)

  2. 12

    Training records are kept at least two years, including the records of people who have left.

    14 CFR 145.163(c); AS9110 7.5

  3. 13

    Each record shows the course, the date, the hours, the instructor, the result and the employee's acknowledgement.

    AC 145-10 para 407(b)

  4. 14

    For any work order from the last 30 days you can show that everyone who performed or inspected the work was current on the training the program requires, on that date.

    This is the sampling test: a work order is chosen, then the training of the names on it.

    14 CFR 145.163(b)

  5. 15

    If records or signatures are electronic, each signer has their own credentials, every change is logged, and the records are backed up and can be retrieved.

    Answer Yes if your records are on paper and the paper is controlled.

    14 CFR 145.163(c); AC 120-78 (as amended)

Running it

  1. 16

    One named person owns the training program, and the Repair Station Manual and Quality Control Manual describe training the same way the program does.

    14 CFR 145.207, 145.209, 145.211

  2. 17

    Expiring and overdue items are tracked with lead time, and something stops a person who is not current from being assigned the work.

    AS9110 7.2; AC 145-10 para 408

  3. 18

    Audit findings, customer complaints and errors feed back into training as remedial training or a program change, with evidence.

    AC 145-10 paras 305, 406; AS9110 10.2

  4. 19

    The training program itself was audited or reviewed in the last 12 months, and the result is written down.

    AC 145-10 para 406; AS9110 9.2

  5. 20

    On a no notice visit you could hand over the program and its approval, the roster, the currency of everyone on shift, and three complete records within 24 hours.

    The practical test. The document request list in the report is what that package holds.

    14 CFR 145.161, 145.163