UASI’s new Safety and Risk Management Standard a Solution for the Commercial Drones Industry

UASI’s new Safety and Risk Management Standard a Solution for the Commercial Drones Industry

KEY POINTS:

• The UAS International Standard has been developed by former Head of Safety at Qantas and Australia (i.e. CASA)’s former representative on the International Civil Aviation Organisation UAS standards panel in conjunction with QBE Insurance and launch partners.
• In addition to helping improve public drone safety, compliant drone operators will benefit from insurance premium incentives after approval of their registration.
• Customers engaging drones for commercial operations such as aerial photography, media operations, surveying, firefighting, surveillance or agricultural operations can have confidence due diligence has been carried out in line with international standards on approved operators. Those who audited and meet the UASI Standard are added to a Panel of Operators, from which they are positioned to access a wider range of high yielding clients.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – The drone era is upon us. Like it or loathe it, the reality is the commercial use of drones is now a reality. The unmanned aircraft industry is growing at a rapid rate, faster than consumers or any government regulators can keep up with, and indications are it will continue to grow before it contracts.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems International (UASI) today held an industry briefing in Sydney on the world’s first Risk-based Safety and Auditing Standard for drones and other unmanned aircraft operations. The standard, which is expected to significantly reduce the threat of drone-related accidents, was developed by UASI in line with International Civil Aviation Regulation guidance material and consultation with local industry representatives such as Channel 9 and Australia’s leading aviation insurer – QBE Australia.

The interest in the event, which attracted more than 100 aviation and media industry representatives, provided strong support for the UASI Standard as the baseline requirement for leading organisations engaging drone services. MEDIA RELEASE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) INTERNATIONAL

UAS International Pty Ltd Suite 3, 7 Wongala Crescent Tel +61 2 9980 7792 Fax +61 2 9980 7715 www.uasinternational.com

Strong interest in the Standard has already been shown by the Media, Emergency Service and Resource sectors, suggesting a demand from their clients for more stringent safety standards to conduct higher risk operations.

In what is also believed to be a world first, participants at UASI’s RPAS (Drone) Lead Auditor Training in Brisbane became accredited as audit operators under the new safety and risk based standard. UASI will use an advanced cloud-based IT platform for conducting all Tier 3 audits and the issuing of one-off or ad-hoc diligence reports for clients, accessible on tablets and mobile phones via a secure login.

Former Head of Safety at Qantas Airways and current Chairman of UAS International Mr Ron Bartsch confirmed prior to the event that “regulatory framework in the world of unmanned aircraft (drones) has simply not kept up with technology”. National Aviation Authorities who are still developing their UAS state safety programs are also expected to adopt the Standard.

Australia’s leading aviation insurer, QBE Australia, will provide a substantial premium incentive to those operators who meet and maintain compliance to the new safety standards.

“We’ve invested heavily to build significant expertise in the UAS area and have been working closely with the industry to determine how we can best manage the issues the rapid and unregulated growth in this segment is creating,” said Mr Julian Fraser, National Relationship Manager – Aviation for QBE Australia.

“We believe the UASI Standard will play an important role in alleviating concerns of our customers and the community about drone operations, as well as providing comfort to organisations engaging UAV services.”

UAS International Technical Director Mr Jim Coyne, who previously represented CASA on the Unmanned Aircraft System ICAO advisory panel explains that the growth expected in this sector. ‘In just ten years’ time this $13b industry is tipped to grow tenfold. With around twenty licenced operators two years ago and now over 200 today in Australia, companies engaging UAS Operators MEDIA RELEASE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) INTERNATIONAL

UAS International Pty Ltd Suite 3, 7 Wongala Crescent Tel +61 2 9980 7792 Fax +61 2 9980 7715 www.uasinternational.com

and regulators are struggling to keep pace rapid technology developments with no guidelines in place to monitor operational safety, risk or on-going proficiency of operators’.

About UAS International:

UAS International Pty Ltd specialise in tailored solutions relating to the emerging issues regarding Unmanned Aircraft Systems. UAS International provides UAV auditing, consulting and training services in the area of UAS’ across the Asia Pacific.

The team at UAS International has extensive experience working with Aviation government departments and regulatory agencies and were responsible for issuing the world’s first civilian UAS Operating Certificate. UAS International is also a corporate member of Australian Association for Unmanned Systems (AAUS).

Operators and clients engaging drones can find out more information on the standard via register.uasinternational.com