Last week Newcastle Airport joined over 70 airports throughout Australia and New Zealand to celebrate Airport Safety Week.

Newcastle Airport CEO, Paul Hughes, said that the Airport participated in Airport Safety Week to show airport workers and the travelling public their commitment and determination in maintaining a safe environment for every airport user.

“While safety is of course a major and daily priority for the Airport team, it’s great to have a dedicated week for safety to celebrate our safety work procedures we follow every day,” Paul said.

During the week there was two major events planned for every worker on the airport site beginning with a FOD (foreign object debris) Walk.

“FOD is a substance, debris, or article alien to the airfield. Each day the Airport Operations team undergoes a FOD check of the tarmac, taxiways, and runway to check for foreign objects.”

“FOD could be anything from boarding passes/luggage tags to small pieces of metal and screws from stairs and baggage trolleys that may interfere with the take-off or landing of an aircraft,” Paul continued.

To round out the week, on Friday all staff were encouraged to wear personal protective equipment PPE, proudly donning their high-vis and ear muffs (pictured).

Airport Safety Week is hosted by the Australian Airports Association, NZ Airports and the Australian Airports Safety Forum.