Aviation Human Factors (FAA AM.I.L)

An organization that has a set of shared beliefs and attitudes that promote safety through communication, training, and other actions within all levels of the workforce.

The PEAR model describes these areas as people (the workforce), the environment where people work, the actions people take and the resources that are available.

An SMS is a systematic approach to providing acceptable levels of safety risk within the organization. This approach ties together safety policies, risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion.

Human errors can be grouped omission, commission, and extraneous errors. Omission errors are tasks which should have been performed but were not. Commission errors are tasks which were done incorrectly. Extraneous errors occur when an individual performs a task that was not authorized.

An active error is an error that is committed by the person doing the work. A latent error is one that comes from an administrative decision, a flaw in the system, or a culture that exists in a workplace. Latent errors may take a long time to be seen and usually show up as an active error that has its roots in the latent error.

Little or no effect. Damage to equipment or hardware. The equipment or hardware can be replaced, but at a loss of time and financial setback. Personal injury. Injury to an aviation mechanic, aircraft operator, or passenger. Catastrophic damage (loss of life or loss of an aircraft).

The MEDA model is used to identify contributing factors behind the error.

MEDA stands for the Maintenance Error/Event Decision Aid model. The contributing factors are analyzed to determine the probability that they will cause an error, and then the error is analyzed to determine the probability that the error will cause an event.

The SHEL model stands for:
-Software/procedures-Software refers to the intangible part of the system such as rules, regulations, customs, habits, and the procedures involved. -Hardware-Hardware represents the physical aspects that the aviation mechanic works with, including the aircraft, tools, hardware, and facilities. -Environment—The physical environment in which the work is being done.
-Liveware/personnel-Liveware is the human element in the system. All four aspects overlap to some extent, especially the human element. Each element is examined for interactions with the other elements when investigating the issue.

"People" is the P in the PEAR model and describes how people who do the work are the center of all work.
There are many factors that can affect or limit an individual's ability to perform work. Some of these limitations can include:
Physical-physical size, age
-strength
-sensory limitations
-Psychological-nutritional factors, health,
-lifestyle, fatigue
-chemical dependency
-Physiological-workload, experience, knowledge, training, attitude, mental or emotional state
-Psychosocial—interpersonal conflicts

An aviation mechanic's ability to perform work safely can be affected by:
-Weather (hot, cold, rain, lightning, wind)
-Location (protection from the elements)
-Workspace (having enough room to adequately perform the work)
-Shift (late nights, or being too tired, can affect an individual's capacity to think clearly and reduce manual and cognitive skills)
-Lighting (the environment can be too dark, or too bright, to effectively see and perform work)
-Sound level (an environment that is too loud can cause injury to hearing and disrupts the work at hand
-Safety (safety can be compromised by working at heights, moving equipment, hazardous materials, or any number of conditions within a work environment)

The culture within which an individual works can have a large impact on their ability to work safely and effectively. Areas that impact an organization's environment are: Personnel Supervision Labor-management relations Pressures Crew structures Size of company Profitability Morale Corporate culture

Management of an organization defines and controls the safety policy as they are the ones who are ultimately responsible for safety within the organization. There must be clear goals that are openly communicated regarding the reporting of hazards for safety goals to be met.

Individuals have differing ways of expressing and receiving ideas, opinions, and instructions. If a team of aviation mechanics is going to work together on a large project, it is vital that they understand each other and can perform the work safely and efficiently. In addition to communicating clearly with each other, they must also be able to communicate clearly with supervisors, the aircraft owner, and the suppliers of aircraft parts and services.

The reactive approach to hazard identification investigates accidents, incidents, and events. The investigation occurs after the occurrence.

The proactive approach to hazard identification actively identifies safety hazards through analysis of the organization's activities through mandatory and voluntary reporting systems, safety audits, and safety surveys.

The predictive approach to hazard identification captures system performance as it happens during normal operations, such as observing a mechanic's performance during a heavy check.

Most aviation mechanics work as part of a team to do their work. The team must function cohesively to accomplish the work at hand safely and correctly. This includes good communication, understanding the end goal, watching out for teammates, and cooperating with each other. Part of the team attitude is understanding that your actions and attitudes directly affect those around you.

For a safety management system to be effective, senior management must lead by example and promote safety culture through policies, promotion, and risk management. If the leaders of a company are not completely supportive of a safety culture, it will show through, and will become less important to the rest of the company.

Communication is key for individuals to work together as a team. Discuss specific duties when jobs require more than one person to eliminate missing steps or tasks. When assigning work to an individual, never assume that they have all the information and resources needed for the task. Verify their understanding of critical tasks by making sure they have access to the correct manuals and understand the process to be completed.

Professionalism is the conduct and practice of doing one's job with skill, competence, ethics, and courtesy.
A professional aviation mechanic will understand and carry out proper, recommended maintenance procedures, and will have the necessary skills to perform the task.
The individual recognizes when their understanding of a task is lacking and will seek appropriate guidance. A professional will treat all other individuals with courtesy and respect, regardless of their position.

To work with integrity means that the aviation mechanic will not compromise safety, airworthiness, regulations, or company policies, regardless of who sees (or does not see) what they do.

An aviation mechanic's signature is their word indicating that each and every task was performed as required, to the best of their ability. The signature is directly linked to the aviation mechanic's professionalism and integrity.

To sign a document knowing that something has not been completed or is wrong, means that integrity has been compromised. Once compromised, it is very difficult to earn integrity back.

-Properly use logbooks and worksheets to communicate work accomplished and work to be done.
-At shift changes, maintenance personnel must discuss what work has been accomplished and what needs to be completed.
-Never assume work has been completed if there is no record of completion.
-In addition to a written record of work accomplished, there should be a verbal brief between shifts to provide further details and to allow for questions regarding the status of the work.

When transferring a critical task, it is important to record exactly what has been accomplished up to that point, as well as critical tasks not yet completed.

If aviation mechanics can recognize they are in a state in which errors can occur, they can change the condition and prevent errors.

When two or more factors are present, the error probability increases dramatically.

The "Dirty Dozen" is a list of twelve factors or conditions that could lead to an aviation mechanic making an error. The twelve factors are:
-Lack of communitcation
-Comlacency
-Lack of knowledge
-Distractions
-Lack of Teamwork
-Fatigue
-Lack of resources
-Pressure
-Lack of awareness
-Stress
-Lack of assertiveness
-Norms

Omission errors are tasks which should have been performed but were not. Examples are missing a step in an inspection, or not installing a washer or cotter pin.

Commission errors are tasks which were done incorrectly. This could be torquing a fastener to the wrong torque or timing a magneto to an engine at the wrong number of degrees.

Extraneous errors occur when an individual performs a task that was not authorized.

A human error is an action performed by an individual that has unintended consequences. An action that is performed with full knowledge of what consequences are expected or possible is called a violation.

The selective reporting of hazards means that some hazards will be overlooked and not reported. This can lead to risks in critical areas being overlooked and could eventually lead to an incident or an accident.

The hazard of selective reporting can be mitigated by emphasizing that all hazards be reported, no matter how insignificant they might seem. This discipline should be encouraged for all types of hazard identification (reactive, proactive, and predictive approaches).

The results of fatigue include lack of judgement, inability to concentrate, decreased cognitive ability, reduced reflex time, and lack of coordination.

Fatigue can be either physical or emotional. Emotional stress can be caused by a variety of factors from both within and from outside the workplace.

An effective FRMS requires a systematic approach to safety reporting, integrated company policies, senior management commitment, incident reporting and analysis, continuous monitoring, and proactive risk assessment.

No. A fatigue risk management system can be implemented as part of an SMS or as a stand-alone effort to reduce the risk associated with fatigue.

A non-invasive tool is one that does not directly involve or interfere with an individual performing a task. Non-invasive tools include safety reporting, integrated company policies, senior management commitment, incident reporting and analysis, continuous monitoring, and proactive risk assessment.

The "Magnificent Seven" attitudes were developed to help aviation mechanics focus on positive actions and attitudes. These are:
-We work to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.
-Safety is not a game because the price of losing is too high.
-Just for today-zero error.
-We all do our part to prevent Murphy from hitting the jackpot.
-Our signature is our word and more precious than gold.
-We are all part of the team.
-We always work with a safety net.