Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Factors
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Record of Revision
Issue Revision No Manual Number Revised By Revision
Date
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Learning objectives
At the end of this module you should be able to:
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NEED FOR SAFETY ENHANCEMENT
5 Minutes
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"Anything that can
go wrong will go
wrong."
Edward A Murphy
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Limitations on human capacity
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Physiological The body
Ergonomics • Size
• Muscles or strength
Intuitive design
Psychoactive substance
The senses
• Eyesight
• Hearing capacity
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Limitations on human capacity
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Procedures
Physiological
• Postures during tasks
Ergonomics
• Lifting of heavy items
Intuitive design
Psychoactive substance
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Equipment and tools
Physiological
• Control panels
Ergonomics
• Operating controls
Intuitive design
• Sensors
Psychoactive substance
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Limitations on human capacity
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Physiological Influence of drugs and
Ergonomics alcohol
Intuitive design • Loss of controls
Psychoactive substance • Fatigue
• Lack of attention
• Limited concentration
• Poor situational awareness
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INFORMATION
PROCESSING
Information processing
is the process of
receiving information
through the senses,
analysing it and
making it meaningful
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Attention
Attention can be thought of as the
concentration of mental effort on sensory
or mental events.
Although attention can move very
quickly from one item to another, it can
only deal with one item at a time.
Attention can take the form of:
• selective attention,
• divided attention,
• focused attention
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Perception
Perception can be defined as
the process of assembling
sensations into a useable
mental representation of the
world. Perception creates faces,
melodies, works of art,
illusions, etc. out of the raw
material of sensation.
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Memory can be considered to
be the storage and retention
of information, experiences
Memory
and knowledge, as well as the
ability to retrieve this
information.
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Memory depends on 3 There are 3 forms of
processes: memory:
• registration - the input of a. ultra short-term
information into memory; memory (or sensory
• storage - the retention of storage);
information; b. short term memory
• retrieval - the recovery of (often referred to as
stored information. working memory)
c. long term memory.
-
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RESPONSIBILITY: INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP
If someone is considered responsible, they are liable to
be called to account as being in charge or control of, or
answerable for something.
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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PEER PRESSURE
Peer pressure is the actual
or perceived pressure which
an individual may feel, to
conform to what he believes
that his peers or colleagues
expect.
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The degree to which an individual’s view is likely to be affected by conformity or peer
pressure, depends on many factors, including:
• culture (people from country x tend to conform more than those from country y);
• familiarity of the individual with the subject matter (a person is more likely to conform
to the majority view if he feels that he knows less about the subject matter than they do);
• the expertise of the group members (if the individual respects the group or perceives
them to be very knowledgeable he will be more likely to conform to their views);
• the relationship between the individual and group members (conformity increases if the
individual knows the other members of the group, i.e. it is a group of peers).
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CULTURE
ISSUES
The culture of an
organisation can be
described as ‘the way
we do things here’. It
is a group or company
norm.
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TEAM
WORKING Whereas individualism
encourages independence,
Working as part of a team has a teams are associated with
number of potential benefits interdependence and working
which include: together in some way to
• individuals can share resources achieve one or more goals.
(knowledge, tools, etc.);
• they can discuss problems and
arrive at shared solutions;
• they can check each others’
work (either “officially” or
“unofficially”)
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Important Elements of
Team Working
For teams to function cohesively
and productively, team members
need to have or build up certain
interpersonal and social skills.
These include
• Communication
• Co-operation
• Co-ordination
• Mutual support.
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Management,
Supervision and
Leadership
Managers and supervisors
have a key role to play in
ensuring that work is carried
out safely. It is no good
instilling the engineers and
technicians with ‘good safety
practice’ concepts, if these
are not supported by their
supervisors and managers.
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Line Managers, particularly those working as
an integral part of the ‘front line’ operation,
may be placed in a situation where they may
Managers
passed down from ‘top management’ in the
organisation).
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Factors Affecting
Performance
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Fitness/Health
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Conditions Minor physical illness (such as colds, ‘flu, etc.);
can
impact on More major physical illness (such as HIV, malaria, etc.);
the health
and Mental illness (such as depression, etc.);
fitness of
staff
Minor injury (such as a sprained wrist, etc.);
include:
Major injury (such as a broken arm, etc.);
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Stressors
Physical - such as heat, cold, noise, vibration, presence of
something damaging to health (e.g. carbon monoxide);
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Managing Prioritising various pieces of work that need to
Time be done;
Pressure
and The actual time available to carry out work
Deadline (considering breaks, shift handovers, etc.);
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Workload Management
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If an overload situation is developing,
methods to help relieve this include:
• Seeking a simpler method of carrying
out the work (that is just as effective
and still legitimate);
• Delegating certain activities to others
to avoid an individual engineer
becoming overloaded;
• Securing further time in order to
carry out the work safely;
• Postponing, delaying tasks/deadlines
and refusing additional work.
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SLEEP, FATIGUE
AND SHIFT WORK
Sleep is a natural state of
reduced consciousness
involving changes in
body and brain
physiology which is
necessary to man to
restore and replenish the
body and brain.
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Effects of Sleep Deprivation
Chronic sleep deprivation has
been shown to raise the risk
for:
✓Depression
✓Obesity
✓Cardiovascular disease
✓Reproductive complications
These issues can lead to decreased productivity and increased
healthcare costs for employee and employer alike.
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Effects of Sleep Deprivation
In the short term, lack of sleep can cause issues with:
Tardiness
Absenteeism
Concentration
Listening to others
Solving problems
Making decisions
If lack of sleep continues, the body builds a “sleep debt” for every hour of lost sleep.
Getting extra sleep can reduce the debt, but if sleep deprivation becomes long term,
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may not be possible to reverse the effects.
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During a microsleep, you
are temporarily
unconscious.
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Avoid long
commutes
and
extending
working
Recommendation Eliminate Take several
hours short breaks
light and
throughout
noise from the shift and
your sleep remain active
environment during breaks
National Sleep
Keep a
Foundation
Drink—but
consistent Recommendations don’t overdo—
bedtime for Shift Workers caffeinated
beverages as
and wake needed
schedule throughout shift
Medications that increase alertness, attention, energy, blood pressure, heart rate, and
breathing rate
Stimulants • Short-term effects: Increased alertness, attention, energy; increased blood pressure and heart rate
• Long-term effects: Heart problems, psychosis, anger, paranoia
Medications that slow brain activity, which makes them useful for treating anxiety and sleep
problems
Central Nervous
System Depressants • Short-term effects: Drowsiness, slurred speech, poor concentration, confusion, dizziness, problems
with movement and memory, lowered blood pressure, slowed breathing.
• Long-term effects: Unknown
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Types of drugs
Hallucinogens – These drugs
alter the user’s state of consciousness. (Distort
auditory and visual sensations) Examples are
LSD, ecstasy, magic mushrooms, marijuana.
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Types of drugs
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Types of drugs
Depressants (downers) – Slow
down the brain and central nervous
system. Examples are alcohol, beer,
wine, vodka, gin etc heroin,
tranquilizers, sleeping pills.
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The Impact of Alcohol and
Other Drug Use in the
Workplace
• Accidents
• Absenteeism
• Lower productivity
• Costs to the individual employee
• Costs to other employees
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Noise can be thought Apart from noxious fumes
of as any unwanted that have serious health
sound, especially if it implications and must be
is loud, unpleasant avoided, working in the
and annoying presence of fumes can affect
performance, as this may
Noise and cause us to rush a job in
May lead to partial order to escape fumes.
Fumes deafness which if not
handled very well
becomes permanent. If the fumes are likely to
have this effect, we should
increase the ventilation
locally or use breathing
apparatus to dissipate the
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fumes.
Illumination
Illumination refers to the
lighting both within the
general working environment
and also in the locality of the
area and where a task is
being carried out. It can be
defined as the amount of
light striking a surface.
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Humans can work within
Climate and quite a wide range of
temperatures and climatic
Temperature conditions, but performance
is adversely affected at
extremes of these.
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Motion and vibration
Vibration is any form of oscillating motion
that changes its magnitude of
displacement periodically with reference to
a point, and it is a widespread physical
phenomenon. The movement of pistons
within the cylinders of engines is a forms of
vibration which can be transmitted to
humans.
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Physical Work (Planning)
Blindly starting a task without planning how best to do it is
almost certainly the best way to invite problems. Before
commencing a task, an individual planner should ask
themselves these questions:
• Do I/we know exactly what the task is that has to be done?
• Do I/we have the skills and proficiency necessary to
complete the task?
• Are the resources available to do it effectively (safely,
accurately and within the time permitted)? Where
resources include:
• Personnel;
• Equipment/spares;
• Documentation, information and guidance;
• Facilities space, lighting, etc.
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REPETITIVE TASKS
Repetitive tasks can be tedious and reduce arousal (i.e. be boring).
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Visual Inspection
Visual inspection can be described as the process of using the eye, alone or in conjunction
with various aids to examine and evaluate the condition of systems or components of an
equipment.
There are various steps to take to carry out a reliable visual inspection.
• Ensure that he understands the area, component or system he has been asked to inspect
• Locate the corresponding area, component or system itself;
• Make sure the environment is conducive to the visual inspection task (considering
factors described “Physical Environment”, such as lighting, access, etc.);
• Conduct a systematic visual search, moving his eyes carefully in a set pattern so that all
parts are inspected;
• Examine thoroughly any potential degradation or defect that is seen and decide whether
it constitutes a problem;
• Record any problem that is found and continue the search a few steps prior to where he
left off.
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Visual Inspection
Visual inspection requires a considerable amount of concentration. Long spells of
continuous inspection can be tedious and result in low arousal. A staff low arousal or
lack of motivation can contribute to a failure to spot a potential problem or a failure in
recognising a defect during visual inspection.
The effects are potentially worse when an inspector has a very low expectation of
finding a defect.
Staff may find it beneficial to take short breaks between discrete visual inspection tasks,
such as at a particular system component, frame, lap joint, etc. This is much better than
pausing midway through an inspection
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Communication
“The transmission of something
from one location to another. The
‘thing’ that is transmitted may be a
message, a signal, a meaning, etc.
In order to have communication
both the transmitter and the
receiver must share a common
code, so that the meaning or
information contained in the
message may be interpreted
without error” .
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Communication can be:
• verbal/spoken - e.g. a single word, a phrase or sentence, a
grunt;
• written/textual - e.g. printed words and/or numbers on
paper or on a screen, hand written notes;
• non-verbal -
• graphic - e.g. pictures, diagrams, hand drawn sketches;
• symbolic - e.g. ‘thumbs up’, wave of the hand, nod of the
head;
• body language - e.g. facial expressions, touch such as a
pat on the back, posture.
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Verbal and Written Communication
Verbal and written communication are purposeful. For a spoken or
written message to be understood, the sender must make sure that
the receiver:
• is using the same channel of communication;
• recognises and understands his language;
• can make sense of the message’s meaning;
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Non-verbal Communication
Smile
Pat on the back
Nod
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Communication Within Teams
There is a need for a team to communicate:
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Work Logging and Recording
This is one of the most critical aspects of
communication within aviation
maintenance, since inadequate logging
or recording of work has been cited as a
contributor to several incidents.
• SOP/Manuals
• Checklist
• Logbooks
• Forms
• Read and Sign
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Keeping up to date, Currency
To maintain his currency, staff must keep abreast of pertinent
information relating to:
• new GSE types and features
• new technologies
• new maintenance practices
• New processes
• modifications to procedures and
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“Skill-based behaviours are those that rely on stored
routines or motor programmes that have been
learned with practice and may be executed without
conscious thought.
Skill-, Rule- and Rule-based behaviours are those for which a routine
Knowledge-Based or procedure has been learned. The components of a
rule-based behaviour may comprise a set of discrete
Behaviours and skills.
Associated Errors
Knowledge-based behaviours are those for which no
procedure has been established.These require the to
evaluate information, and then use his knowledge and
experience to formulate a plan for dealing with the
situation.”
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Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model
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Types of error
• Design-induced and operator-induced
• Confusion
• inadequate performance
• Software
• Random, Systematic and Sporadic
• Omission, Commission and Sunbstitution
• Omission is failing to do something which ought to be done such as missing an item
on a checklist.
• An error of commission is doing something which ought not to be done, such as
calling passengers to board the aircraft on the scheduled departure time when the
flight has a one-hour technical delay.
• Substitution is taking action when it is required, but the wrong action. This kind of
error has led to disaster on a number of occasions when a pilot closed down the
wrong engine after an in-flight engine failure
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Violation
Routine violations are things which have become ‘the normal way of doing something’
within the person’s work group. They can become routine for a number of reasons:
engineers may believe that procedures may be over prescriptive and violate them to
simplify a task (cutting corners), to save time and effort.
Situational violations occur due to the particular factors that exist at the time, such as
time pressure, high workload, unworkable procedures, inadequate tooling, poor working
conditions. These occur often when, in order to get the job done, staff consider that a
procedure cannot be followed.
Optimising violations involve breaking the rules for ‘kicks’. These are often quite
unrelated to the actual task. The person just uses the opportunity to satisfy a personal need.
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Main human factors in Aviation
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Avoiding and Managing Errors
Prevent errors from occurring;
To prevent errors from occurring, it is necessary to predict where they are most likely to
occur and then to put in place preventative measures.
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Discussion Questions
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In your groups discuss the video seen
− Note down the human factors (‘dirty dozen’)
you have identified.
− Add a short indication of the video scene
− Select a group member to present your
results
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Behavior and Attitudes
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• Motivation and attitudes steering behavior
“We must all believe that what we are doing is safe and
that it is the correct and safest way of doing the job!”
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Reporting and communication barriers
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Reporting
Simple definition:
“Passing on a written or spoken description of a situation,
event, etc. to a person or organization”
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Situations and events for reports
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Operational – must Personal – should report
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Discussion Questions
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Why do we often experience problem with
reporting?
5 Minutes
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Reporting – the real story
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Statistics &
data can only
be produced
for the events
that are
reported!
This only gives
us information
about 10% of
what really
occurs
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Reporting barriers
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• Most common reasons for not reporting
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Reporting systems
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• IT based • Hints to support reporting
• Hardcopy (paper) • Systems/forms accessible
• Verbal • Easy to use (contents)
• No punishment
• Communication/reporting
atmosphere
• Acceptance of reports
• Feedback
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Questions
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Hazards in the
Workplace
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Recognising Potential Hazards in Aircraft Maintenance
Engineering
and Physical hazards may include:
avoiding • Very bright lights (e.g. from welding);
hazards; • Very loud sounds (sudden or continuous);
• Confined or enclosed areas;
• Working at significant heights;
• Noxious substances (liquids, fumes, etc.);
• Excessive temperature (i.e. too cold or too
hot);
• Moving equipment, moving vehicles and
vibration.s
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Injury
Fire
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Questions
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