The ICAO has set out the requirements for airfield safety procedures in its standards and recommendations. The requirements stated in Annex 14 determine among other things how airfields organize aircraft refuelling, fire brigade deployment, periodical inspections of the condition of runways and approach lights and snow clearance. The ICAO uses these requirements to ensure that airfield systems are safe and work properly at all times. Safety procedures must be recorded in an airfield manual, which also serves as the basis for a safety management system. This system describes how an organization identifies and assesses existing hazards and reduces them with the appropriate measures. The FOCA conducts an audit lasting several days, assessing whether airfield procedures meet requirements and are implemented as described. Following successful initial certification, the FOCA will then conduct recertification audits at Grenchen every five years, to determine whether airfield safety procedures still meet ICAO requirements. Grenchen is the eleventh airfield in Switzerland after Geneva, Zurich, St. Gallen-Altenrhein, Bern, Sion, Lugano-Agno, Les Eplatures, Samedan, Birrfeld and Ecuvillens to be certified to ICAO requirements by the FOCA. Certification of the remaining regional airfields in Switzerland - Lausanne and Bressaucourt - is planned as the next step. The binational airport of Basel-Mulhouse is to be certified by the French supervisory authorities with the participation of the FOCA. Contact/Queries: Urs Holderegger, FOCA Communications Director. Tel. +41 58 464 23 35 | 
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