Introduction
Hold baggage screening (HBS) and cabin baggage screening (CBS) is a 1-week course for screening officers who read baggage images, officers who resolve alarms and screening floor supervisors, ending with a Screening Operator Competency Portfolio. Screening points fail in two directions at once: threat items passed because the image was read too fast, and bags rejected without cause because an alarm was never resolved at the screen. Nominees already sit at a screening position or supervise one, and teaching is by case study on sample X-ray and CT image sets. CoreConcept Training Center delivers this baggage screening course.
Course Objectives
- Apply the baggage screening security objectives of ICAO Annex 17 to the operator's own duties at hold and cabin screening points
- Explain the multi-level hold baggage architecture and the hold and cabin equipment standards that set divesting rules
- Interpret dual-energy X-ray and computed tomography images using a systematic search pattern within operational review intervals
- Resolve alarms by on-screen resolution or physical search according to the resolution hierarchy in force at the screening point
- Recognise improvised explosive device components, prohibited articles and liquid threat indicators in baggage images
- Record screening decisions and reconciliation actions in a competency portfolio for supervisory review
Target Audience
- Screening officers responsible for reading hold baggage images at operator review positions
- Cabin baggage screening officers responsible for tray screening and divesting instructions at the lane
- Screening officers responsible for resolving alarms by on-screen review or physical bag search
- Trace detection and search officers responsible for secondary checks on rejected bags
- Screening floor supervisors responsible for image quality control and operator decision review
Course Outline
Day 1: Screening Positions, Threats and the Operator's Role
- ICAO Annex 17 Security Objectives for Baggage Screening
- Hold and Cabin Screening Positions Compared by Duty
- Prohibited Articles Categories and Operator Decision Boundaries
- IED Component Recognition Main Charge Initiator Power Switch
- Baseline Image Interpretation Self-Assessment Against Threat Categories
Day 2: Screening Architecture and Equipment Standards
- Multi-Level Hold Baggage Architecture From Level One to Five
- ECAC Standard 2 Dual-Energy X-ray With Dual Operator Images
- ECAC Standard 3 Dual-Energy X-ray Plus CT Single Image
- EDS CB Standards C1 C2 and C3 Divesting Rules
- Explosive Trace Detection Role Within the Screening Sequence
Day 3: Image Interpretation at the Screen
- Dual-Energy X-ray Organic and Inorganic Colour Discrimination
- Systematic Image Search Pattern and Bag Orientation Checks
- CT Image Rotation Slicing and Virtual Item Removal
- Timed Image Drills at Level Two Review Intervals
- Dense Object Shielding and Deliberate Concealment Indicators
Day 4: Alarm Resolution and Problem Cases
- On-Screen Resolution Scope Against Mandatory Physical Search
- Organic False Alarm Patterns From Food and Toiletries
- Level Five Manual Resolution Options and Bag Opening Rules
- LAGs Divesting Exceptions and Liquid Threat Indicators
- Baggage Reconciliation and Unaccompanied Bag Procedures
Day 5: Case Study Work and the Screening Operator Portfolio
- Mixed Image Set Case Study With Scored Decisions
- Alarm Resolution Case Studies Against the Resolution Hierarchy
- Simulated Screening Scenario With Supervisor Image Challenge
- Prohibited Articles Aide-Memoire and Escalation Contact Chain
- Screening Operator Competency Portfolio Completion
Skills You Will Gain
- X-ray Image Interpretation
- CT Image Manipulation
- Threat Item Recognition
- Alarm Resolution Decision-Making
- Prohibited Articles Application
- Divesting Rule Application
- Baggage Reconciliation Checks
- Screening Decision Recording
Why Attend This Course
- Deliver a Screening Operator Competency Portfolio to the screening supervisor and the training function as evidence of image interpretation and alarm resolution decisions
- Decide at the screen whether an alarm can be cleared on screen or must go to physical search, and on what grounds
- Avoid the two costly errors at a screening point: the threat item passed and the bag rejected without cause
- Pass on the systematic image search pattern and the prohibited articles aide-memoire to colleagues on the same shift
Conclusion
Back at work, the participant gives the Screening Operator Competency Portfolio to the screening supervisor and the training function. They use it to confirm which threat categories the operator reads reliably, to set the next recurrent training interval, and to decide whether the operator is ready for alarm resolution duties. After the first month on shift, the organisation should compare the operator's reject decisions against the portfolio baseline, review any threat category repeatedly missed, and schedule targeted image practice accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What should participants know before a hold baggage screening and cabin baggage screening course?
Participants should already work at or supervise a screening position and know their own operating procedures. Bringing their prohibited articles list and local divesting rules lets them map the image work onto the equipment and procedures they actually use.
How does a hold baggage screening and cabin baggage screening course differ from an aviation security management course?
Management courses build the security programme, the audit schedule and covert testing. This course is the work at the screen: reading dual-energy X-ray and CT images, applying divesting rules and deciding whether an alarm clears on screen or goes to search.
Why does cabin baggage screening with computed tomography need its own training?
Because CT is more complex than conventional X-ray and takes more training time, and generic X-ray material is unsuitable for it. Operators must learn to rotate images, slice them and remove items virtually, which lengthens early decision times until practised.
What do participants take back from a hold baggage screening and cabin baggage screening course?
Participants take back a Screening Operator Competency Portfolio: scored image interpretation records across threat categories, alarm resolution decision logs with reasons, a prohibited articles aide-memoire, divesting rule notes and an image practice plan for the coming period.
