Baggage screeners to follow new rules 'A very good thing' Michael Friscolanti National Post Wednesday, July 03, 2002 Security officials who screen luggage at Canada's airports will have to pass a series of new standardized courses as part of a government-controlled training program expected to be in place by the end of September. The new system, prompted in part by last year's terrorist attacks in the United States, will mark a drastic shift in the way Canada's 2,700 baggage screeners are evaluated and certified. Under the current systen, airlines hire security companies to search passengers' bags for weapons and other banned substances. Each firm then trains its own employees, who are required to pass a final test administered by Transport Canada. When employees are recertified every two years, they rewrite the same test. But according to the new plan, a third party contracted by the government will create a series of new courses that consist of three training levels, including how to check a passenger's criminal record, how to use an X-ray machine and how to improve communication skills. The company will then teach that curricula to every screener currently working in the country, while administering final tests to ensure all workers are performing at the same level. And when the time comes for screening officers to be recertified, they will have to take an upgrade course that reviews all the training they have previously received. The course will also provide an opportunity for aspiring supervisors to hone their skills. "Through a review of the security standards, [the government] has identified the need to move beyond a single level of staff certification," reads a government tender, posted yesterday, which requests bids from companies interested in creating the national training program. "A multi-level certification structure divides staff and their training into levels and provides for comprehensive and more focused training." The cost of the screening overhaul has not yet been determined, and, because the government is still accepting bids from those hoping to administer the training, details such as course outlines and exam contents have also not been finalized. A spokesman for Transport Canada would also not comment on the plan yesterday, but the 86-page tender says "time is of the essence." By the end of August, the agency wants the content for all courses to be developed and reviewed. On Sept. 3, the new program is slated to be implemented at an initial test site, which is still undetermined, followed by a national implementation on Sept. 30. By Dec. 13, the agency hopes to have every luggage screener in Canada trained and tested. The urgency attached to putting the new national strategy into effect comes three months after the government was criticized for stalling the process. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), a Crown corporation created after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, was supposed to assume control of pre-board screening in April. The cost was to be covered by a controversial $24 security fee levied on all round-trip airplane tickets. In March, however, the government signed an $80-million agreement with the airlines that paid them -- with taxpayer money -- to temporarily continue the screening services that were in place before CATSA's launch. At the time, Transport Canada promised that CATSA would take over passenger screening on a gradual basis, but it would not provide specifics about when the authority would begin work. Despite the delay, those with a stake in the airline industry yesterday welcomed the move toward national training standards. Warren Everson, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association of Canada, which promotes safe air travel, said the current system has no major flaws, but training every worker according to the same protocol has obvious benefits. "The old system suffered, perhaps, from a little fragmentation," Everson said yesterday. "You undoubtedly had different companies and different standards at work in different airports. So making a single national standard and a more recognized credential is a very good thing." Improving training, however, may do little to improve the overall performance of unmotivated workers who earn barely more than minimum wage, one official noted. "You can have a well-trained individual, but if you're going to pay them $8 or $9 an hour, how much enthusiasm is that person going to have?" asked Stuart Deans, a spokesman for the United Steelworkers of America, which represents nearly 800 baggage screeners in Canada. "How long are you going to keep people in those jobs?" The government also seems aware of that fact. The tender says the annual turnover of luggage screeners in Canada can reach 20 per cent, and in the next nine months, an additional 700 to 800 new employees will need to be trained. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Solo) http://www.solobev.com/ (Solo Beverages) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************