Fatigue
Fatigue is a major human factor that has contributed to many maintenance errors resulting in accidents.
[Figure 14-23] Fatigue can be mental or physical in nature.
Emotional fatigue also exists and affects mental and physical performance. A person is said to be fatigued when a reduction or impairment in any of the following occurs: cognitive ability, decision-making, reaction time, coordination, speed, strength, or balance. Fatigue reduces alertness and often reduces a person’s ability to focus on the task being performed.
Symptoms of fatigue can also include short-term memory problems, channeled concentration on unimportant issues while neglecting more important ones, and failure to maintain a situational overview. A fatigued person may be easily distracted or may be nearly impossible to distract. He or she may experience abnormal mood swings. Fatigue results in an increase in mistakes, poor judgment, and poor decisions or perhaps no decisions at all. A fatigued person may also lower his or her standards.
Tiredness is a symptom of fatigue. However, sometimes a fatigued person may feel wide awake and engaged in a task. The primary cause of fatigue is a lack of sleep. Good restful sleep, free from drugs or alcohol is a human necessity to prevent fatigue. Fatigue can also be caused by stress and overworking. A person’s mental and physical state also naturally cycles through various levels of performance each day. Variables such as body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, blood chemistry, alertness, and attention rise and fall in a pattern daily. This is known as circadian rhythm.
[Figure 14-24]
A person’s ability to work (and rest) rises and falls during this cycle, and performance counter to circadian rhythm can be difficult. Until it becomes extreme, a person may be unaware that he or she is fatigued. It is easier recognized by another person or in the results of tasks being performed. This is particularly dangerous in aviation maintenance since the lives of people depend on maintenance procedures performed at a high level of proficiency. Working alone when fatigued is particularly dangerous.
The best remedy for fatigue is to get enough sleep on a regular basis. The technician must be aware of the amount and quality of sleep obtained. Time off is justified when too little sleep has occurred and errors are probable during maintenance. Countermeasures to fatigue are often used, but their effectiveness can be short lived and many can make fatigue worse. Caffeine is a common fatigue countermeasure. Pseudoephedrine found in sinus medicine and amphetamines are also used. While they can be effective for short periods, the underlying fatigue remains and due to this drug use, the person may have trouble getting the rest needed once off the job.
Suggestions to help mitigate the problems caused by fatigue include looking for symptoms of fatigue in oneself and in others. Have others check your work, even if an inspector sign off is not required. Avoid complex tasks during the bottom of your circadian rhythm. Sleep and exercise daily. Eight to nine hours of daily sleep are recommended to avoid fatigue. AMTs in airline operations are part of a system in which most maintenance is performed at night. Fleet aircraft are operated primarily during daytime hours to generate company revenue. Therefore, shift work is required to maintain the fleet. It is already known that turning work over to other technicians during shift changes can lead to errors due to lack of communication. But shift work alone is a cause of fatigue that can degrade performance and also lead to errors. Shift work requires technicians to work during low cycles of their natural circadian rhythm. It also makes sleep more difficult when not on the job. Furthermore, regular night shift work makes a person’s body more sensitive to environmental disturbances. It can degrade performance, morale, and safety. It can also affect one’s physical health. All of these can be reflected in degraded maintenance performance—a dangerous situation.
The technician must be aware that shift work is the norm in aviation. Avoidance of fatigue is part of the job. Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 121, section 377, only requires 24 hours time off during a week of work. Since this is obviously not enough, it is up to companies and technicians to regulate shift work and time off to reduce the potential for errors. Most importantly, each technician must monitor and control his or her sleep habits to avoid fatigue.
Lack of Resources
A lack of resources can interfere with a person’s ability to complete a task because of a lack of supplies and support. [Figure 14-25]
Low quality products also affect one’s ability to complete a task. Aviation maintenance demands proper tools and parts to maintain a fleet of aircraft. Any lack of resources to safely carry out a maintenance task can cause both non-fatal and fatal accidents. For example, if an aircraft is dispatched without a functioning system that is typically nonessential for flight but suddenly becomes needed, this could create a problem.
Parts are not the only resources needed to do a job properly, but all too frequently parts become a critical issue. AMTs can try to be proactive by checking suspected areas or tasks that may require parts at the beginning of the inspection. Aircraft on ground (AOG) is a term in aviation maintenance indicating that a problem is serious enough to prevent an aircraft from flying. In these cases, there is a rush to acquire the parts to put the aircraft back into service and prevent further delays or cancellations of the planned itinerary. AOG applies to any aviation materials or spare parts that are needed immediately for an aircraft to return to service. AOG suppliers refer qualified personnel and dispatch the parts required to repair the aircraft for an immediate return to service. AOG also is used to describe critical shipments for parts or materials for aircraft “out of service” (OTS) at a location.
If the status of an aircraft is AOG and materials required are not on hand, parts and personnel must be driven, flown, or sailed to the location of the grounded aircraft. Usually the problem is escalated through an internal AOG desk, then the manufacturer’s AOG desk, and finally competitors’ AOG desks. All major air carriers have an AOG desk that is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by personnel trained in purchasing, hazardous materials shipping, and parts manufacturing and acquisition processes.
Within an organization, making sure that personnel have the correct tools for the job is just as important as having the proper parts when they are needed. Having the correct tools means not having to improvise. For example, an aircraft that had received a new interior needed to be weighed prior to being released to fly. Two days before the planned release, the aircraft was weighed without the proper electronic load cells placed between the aircraft jack and the aircraft. Because the correct equipment was not used, the aircraft slipped off of one of the load cells and the jack point creased the spar. The cost of improvising can be very steep. The right tools for the job need to be used at all times, and if they are broken, out of calibration, or missing, they need to be repaired, calibrated, or found as soon as possible.
Technical documentation is another critical resource that can lead to problems in aviation maintenance. When trying to find out more about the task at hand or how to troubleshoot and repair a system, the needed information often cannot be found because the manuals or diagrams are not available. If the information is unavailable, personnel should ask a supervisor or speak with a technical representative or technical publications department at the appropriate aircraft manufacturer. Most manuals are in a constant state of revision and, if organizations do not identify missing information in the manuals, then nothing is done to correct the documentation. Resources such as publications departments and manufacturers’ technical support are available and should be used rather than ignoring the problem.
Another valuable resource that the maintenance department should rely on is the flight crew. Organizations should encourage open communication between flight crews and maintenance crews. The flight crew can provide valuable information when dealing with a defective part or problem. Figure 14-26 shows a number of questions that flight crews can be asked to help resolve and understand maintenance issues.
When the proper resources are available for the task at hand, there is a much higher probability that maintenance will do a better, more efficient job and higher likelihood that the job will be done correctly the first time. Organizations must learn to use all of the resources that are available and, if the correct resources are not available, make the necessary arrangements to get them in a timely manner. The end result saves time and money, and enables organizations to complete the task knowing the aircraft is airworthy.
Pressure
Aviation maintenance tasks require individuals to perform in an environment with constant pressure to do things better and faster without making mistakes and letting things fall through the cracks. Unfortunately, these types of job pressures can affect the capabilities of maintenance workers to get the job done right. [Figure 14-27]
Airlines have strict financial guidelines, as well as tight flight schedules, that pressure mechanics to identify and repair mechanical problems quickly so that the airline industry can keep moving. Most important, aircraft mechanics are responsible for the overall safety of everyone who uses flying as a mode of transportation.
Organizations must be aware of the time pressures that are put on aircraft mechanics and help them manage all of the tasks that need to be completed so that all repairs, while done in a timely manner, are completed correctly with safety being the ultimate goal. Sacrificing quality and safety for the sake of time should not be tolerated or accepted. Likewise, AMTs need to recognize on their own when time pressures are clouding their judgments and causing them to make unnecessary mistakes. Self-induced pressures are those occasions where one takes ownership of a situation that was not of their doing.
In an effort to combat self-induced pressure, technicians should ask for help if they feel overwhelmed and under a time constraint to complete a repair. Another method is to have someone check the repair thoroughly to ensure that all maintenance tasks were completed correctly.
Lastly, if given a repair with a specific time limitation that you feel is unrealistic or compromises safety, bring it to the attention of the organization’s management and openly discuss a different course of action.
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