Safety Case for construction works within the runway strip

In summer 2013, airsight was commissioned to develop a safety case for construction works within the runway strip at Dubai International Airport (DXB). The project was conducted in close cooperation with different departments of Dubai Airports (Development, Compliance and Airside Operations), DANS (Dubai Air Navigation Services) and the construction companies.

Prior and after a temporary closure of runway 12R/30L in 2014, various constructions are required to be conducted within the strip during flight operations on the runway. In order to ensure the safety of operations on the runway as well as on the adjacent taxiways and the construction site, a comprehensive safety case was created. The aim of this safety case is the identification of potential hazards, the assessment of inherent risks and the development of adequate mitigation measures.

In a first step, the system to be assessed was defined and the potential hazards were identified within a workshop. Based on the results of the hazard identification, all risks were assessed in terms of frequencies and severities. Within this process, various methods (qualitative and quantitative) have been applied. As an example, for estimating of the probability of a collision of an aircraft veering-off the runway with the construction site, airsight’s veer-off risk-model was applied. The evaluation of the risks induced by other processes of operational nature, such as the accessibility of the construction site, could be assessed qualitatively within dedicated expert workshops.

Later, during a final workshop, the risks have been reviewed and the derived mitigation measures have been discussed in terms of feasibility and effectiveness. To conclude the project, all results of the safety case were documented in accordance to the template used by Dubai Airport Airside Operations Department.