Surveillance is the term used to describe our monitoring of adherence to safety and security standards by participants in the aviation system.

How it works

Every certificated aviation participant is rated according to the level of aviation safety risk they pose.

The operational risk management process assesses risk by looking at ten dimensions of a Participant Risk Profile.

  1. Governance Arrangements
  2. Organisational Profile
  3. Business and Operating Environment
  4. Task Profile
  5. Technical Profile
  6. People Profile
  7. Management Systems
  8. Incident and Safety Profile
  9. Change and Growth
  10. Culture

Based on an operational risk assessment using these 10 dimensions, and a review of our database information, previous audit reports and the existing Client Risk Profile information, we develop a Participant Risk Profile. This risk profile is used to inform the our overall surveillance programme and the scope of individual audits.

Background and philosophy

The aviation lifecycle

CAA approach to surveillance

Surveillance Policy [PDF 350 KB]

Risk Ratings