Case Study, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport

• Member of the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce
• Associate member of Ayrshire Business in the Community

The Board, Management and Employees at Glasgow Prestwick International Airport (GPIA) understand the meaning of Corporate Social Responsibility. They provide the opportunity for Scotland to achieve its targets in tourism growth and the importance of the gateway provided through Glasgow Prestwick. The Airport employs approximately 450 staff, impacting on around 1500 with their families included. It also supports employment of a wider Airport family of approximately 1500, creating employment opportunities for over 3000 in Scotland.  GPIA understand the benefits of building good relationships with their local community. The Airport has a charity committee who annually select a focus charity to support. Fundraising events are held, and staff are encouraged to donate to the charity fund. The charity committee also consider applications for funds and awards. The Airport also support individual projects, such as Unity, which supports return to work for people furthest away from employability. Many employees give hours of their time to voluntary organisations and the Airport has been involved in many activities such as:

• Support to Malcolm Sargent House
• Support to Ayrshire Hospice
• Support to Cealeigh Young Fiddlers
• Various charity runs

Employees are encouraged to become involved in community work and can be proactively involved through the airport granting discretionary leave and flexible working.

The Airport gives opportunities to many local suppliers. Invitations to Tender are circulated to all external parties. Terms and conditions are issued to all customers and regular customer review meetings are held to develop a partnership attitude. Local tenants have classified lease agreements. Employees are encouraged to learn foreign languages to help interact with passengers. Annual audits are carried out by The Civil Aviation Authority Safety Regulation Group (CAA SRG) in areas such as the airport fire service, air traffic control, air traffic engineering and airport operations.  In addition to the above, GPIA are working towards a standardised system for controlled documentation across the airport. The breadth of Health & Safety legislation applicable to GPIA as an airport operator is obviously considerable, and the Airport employs a H&S adviser to identify all applicable H&S legislation to ensure that statutory obligations are satisfied in such areas. There is also a formal Health & Safety committee chaired by the Director of Operations, who meet quarterly. Individual departments have developed local health and safety committees, and these are proving to be very successful. Employees are issued with appropriate protective clothing and trained in carrying out risk assessment. All new employees are educated on health and safety through the induction programme.

External cleaning contractors are engaged together with the workforce to ensure that standards are as high as possible within the existing environment. Employees are actively encouraged to recycle waste through the provision of recycling collection points. Paper is recycled, as is glass, with specific waste containers provided. Recent initiatives have included; moving from DeskJet to laser printers to reduce ink use; donating unwanted stationery to local schools; providing shredded paper for use at home eg pets; minimising fuel spillages. The Airport achieved IIP accreditation in July 2004. All employees have statements of particulars, job descriptions and an employee handbook. All employees have access to membership of a trade union if they so desire. The Airport has a joint recognition agreement with the TGWU and Prospect.

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport
Aviation House
Prestwick
KA9 2PL

t: 0871 223 0700
f: 01292 511010
w:www.gpia.co.uk

NB: All case studies are based on the Organisation’s Bronze Award submission.