On Jan. 1 of this year, the new training methodology CBTA (Competency Based Training & Assessment) went into effect for air transportation of dangerous goods. In short, this means that employees are trained more in the direction of the job they are doing. As the first training provider in the Netherlands to be IATA CBTA-accredited, Special Cargo is working hard to implement the new methodology as soon as possible.
The CBTA methodology is embedded in the Dutch Aviation Act from the aviation organization ICAO. Aviation organization IATA, of course, follows suit. It is implementing the new approach in its training guidelines for the transportation of dangerous goods by air. In this, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) and the Dangerous Goods Training Guidance are leading.
Getting used to it
CBTA means for the trainees: more education focused on their jobs, so less redundant teaching. It will take some getting used to, but we expect they will enjoy purposeful learning.
Step-by-step introduction
The new CBTA approach is being phased in this year in the Netherlands. The e-learnings have already been allowed to be taken in the new style since April 1. By July 1, all training will have to be competency-based. The following e-learnings are now available at Special Cargo:
- 7.2 – Acceptance of general cargo (Dutch and English)
- 7.4 – Loading and unloading of aircraft and ULDs (Dutch and English)
- 7.5 – Baggage acceptance and handling (Dutch and English)
- 7.6 – Planning aircraft loading (Dutch and English)
- 7.7 – Flight crew (English)
- 7.1 and 7.3 will be available in all forms by June 1. And as in-house training, it is already available upon request.
Training Awareness
The existing air transport dangerous goods awareness course has now been dropped. All categories that fell below (5 through 8) have been moved into new courses.
IATA Choice Guide
A total of 12 categories (1 through 12) are converted to the new structure (7.1 through 7.10). But this conversion is not one-to-one. This may raise questions for companies that have and keep their staff IATA-certified. That’s why Special Cargo is developing the “IATA Choice Guide. You fill out a few basic questions, and you’ll instantly see which “new style” IATA training courses are applicable to your employees. The decision aid will soon be available on our website. If you have any questions before then, please contact us at training@specialcargo.nl.
Register
You can already register for the new trainings. You can do so through our training portal Special Cargo Online. Don’t have an account yet? Then go to our course page and click on the desired course.
