TIP - top quality training for airport baggage screeners

Like people in every other specialised job, X-ray baggage screeners can only be as good as their training. And until now the training design and delivery for these key workers has been less than perfect.

On-the-job training (OJT) is a vital step in training for skills and competence. And it has to be planned, designed and delivered to the right standards and criteria, or it fails to deliver the necessary 100% coverage.

Scanners must know how to operate the equipment to best effect... safely. They also have to spot, identify, enhance and interpret the images they see on the screen. But when we studied OJT for screeners at some UK airports and looked at the training literature, materials and process, we found a number of problems.

The issues
In training design, limited time was given to X-ray in OJT, the content was not structured and there were very few realistic simulations of threat objects And in training delivery, the trainer / trainee interaction was not always adequate, and feedback from trainer to trainee was ad-hoc.

In training evaluation, there were no standardised objective performance criteria and no subjective valuation of screener competency. This was leading to large variations in assessment quality between airports.

Our solution
TIP develops X-ray screening skills through competency-based and structured OJT. It's a process that is easy to audit and evaluate, encouraging continuous improvement of training methods and delivery.

The specific foundations of the package are:

• a breakdown of the core competencies that all screeners need
• the optimum training techniques to deliver those competencies
• a series of associated training checklists
• a clear OJT structure
• a set of clear best-practice guidelines with the trainee centrally involved... observing, practising, explaining and improving - and the trainer giving accurate and specific feedback to build the relationship and generate further improvement.