Fatigue In Aviation Maintenance Workers



Fatigue In Aviation Maintenance Workers

Introduction

Due to the fact that approximately 80% of all aircraft accidents are attributed to human factors, the issue has been widely discussed among aviation professionals for many years now. Up to 15% of these accidents are blamed on the faults of the aircraft mechanics or the engineering staff and fatigue remains one of the main issues on list of the human factors that often result in poor performance on behalf of aviation technicians. Pilots are strictly regulated and receive detailed instructions on how to deal with all human factors which might influence flight safety, but what about aviation maintenance personnel?

Aircraft maintenance specialists are often expected to cover long shifts most of which unavoidably involve working during unsocial hours, and plenty of overtime. In many cases aircraft technicians are required to be on call 24 hours a day. When an AOG situation appears, they cannot leave the aircraft before the malfunction is fixed. While pilots may occasionally get the chance to restore their strength during lengthy flights, fatigue has always been a particularly disturbing issue for the technical staff, since they are constantly under pressure to get the aircraft back into service ASAP.

Two Key Concepts Can Be Derived From This Second Definition

Fatigue is a significant problem in aviation operations. Fatigue is a physiological issue associated with a complex interaction of insufficient sleep, long duty periods, shift work, and circadian shifts. The impact of fatigue can be insidious since the extent of performance impairment may not be clear to the individual and there is no method to measure fatigue directly. Fatigued people make more mistakes, experience decreased vigilance, have difficulty sustaining attention, and have memory difficulties compared to people who are well-rested[1]. Fatigue effects have led to maintenance accidents and incidents.

A fatigued maintainer is at increased risk of maintenance errors due to impaired mental functioning. Unlike when driving, falling asleep during work is not a main fatigue hazard; but decreased cognitive function certainly is (cognition is a scientific term for mental processes such as attention, perception, memory and reasoning). There is extensive literature demonstrating the influence of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance. Lack of sleep impairs performance particularly on routine, repetitive tasks requiring vigilance.

Fatigue Risk Management Principles

In recent years, comprehensive fatigue risk management approaches have been adopted in aviation and road transport, supplementing, or in some cases replacing, older Hours of Service (HOS) approaches. Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMSs) have been promoted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, 2008), the Federal Aviation Administration (2010), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA, 2009) Transport Canada (2007a), the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia (CASA, 2009a), and agencies in the road and

rail transport industries (Australian National Transport Commission, 2004; Gertler, Popkin, Nelson & O'Neil, 2002). The FAA has defined FRMS as: … a data driven and scientifically based process that allows for continuous monitoring and management of safety risks associated with fatigue-related error. It is part of a repeating performance improvement ...