Human Factors Industry News ! Volume X
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Aviation Human Factors Industry News ! Volume X. Issue 26, December 28, 2014 Hello all, To subscribe send an email to: [email protected] In this weeks edition of Aviation Human Factors Industry News you will read the following stories: ★ Human Factors training is just ★NTSB: Pilot in ocean crash had common sense... Or is it? not trained for stunt ★Most plane accidents happen ★What a Field Trip! while still at airports ★ ★Three Air-bag Accidents At Complacency Revisited Boeing Plant Lead To Extra Safety ★ Measures Many US Workers Sacrifice Sleep for Work Hours, Commutes ★Pilots safe but Daily Air plane ★ damaged after landing on belly And Much More Human Factors Industry News 1 Human Factors training is just common sense... Or is it? Gordon Dupont - System Safety Services Many times over the years, I have had class participants tell me that they don’t need human factors training because it is just common sense. Nothing could be farther from the truth. For example, look at the picture of the plumbing fittings on the right. It is just common sense that even your grandmother would know to tighten every single one of those fittings. Yet in my seven years of accident investigation I have met all too many very qualified, conscientious and loaded with common sense maintenance personnel who have left a line loose on an aircraft. Human Factors training is nothing more than training the person on how to avoid the error they never intended to make. It calls for providing the person with information on what can set him/her up to make an error and more importantly, what “safety nets” the person can put in place in order to prevent an error from occurring or to prevent any error from becoming a accident. What is a “Safety Net”? A safety net is a regulation, a policy, a procedure or a practice which if in place, might break a link or prevent a link from forming. An example is: developing the habit to always go back three steps in your work after being distracted. In Human Factors training you are taught that your mind can work faster than your hands and thus you may think and believe you have completed a task when in fact you have not. Now take a look at our plumbing lines, a safety net of always using TorqueSeal to mark lines as you tighten each fitting would let you and others know that each fitting is correctly tightened. A dual inspection by a second person would also help ensure no lines were left loose. Human Factors Industry News 2 To error is human Ever since Eve made the error of eating the forbidden apple, we humans have been making human errors. To lessen errors being made we have tried to “Murphy-proof” everything we have come into contact with. For example; you can’t start your car unless it is in neutral or park or you can’t retract the landing gear on the ground. We also have come up with rules, laws and regulations to reduce human errors. I.e., You must stop at a red light even though common sense tells you there is no one around and it would be safe to not do so. If you do make an error we have put up warnings to prevent it from causing an accident or at least lessen its consequences. I.e., A warning horn to let you know that you forgot to lower the landing gear before you land or a seat belt to keep you Safer if you choose to ignore the horn. Today we have “human-proofed” the aircraft to the extent that we have a whole new set of problems. The pilots and crew on many occasions don’t even know what the aircraft is doing. We also have so many rules nowadays that there are rules for the rules and because there are so many, few of us can remember them all. But the fact still remains that human error is still our biggest problem and in order to lower human error we must provide the correct training to all humans in the organization because EVERY human can make a mistake even with years and years of experience. But what is the correct training? We believe that by providing training that each participant believes in, can understand and easily apply to his work, to be the correct training. There are some terrible training courses out there. Courses that pilots call “Charm School” and maintenance call “Hug a Tree 101”. These courses are simply a waste of time and money. Human factors training for everyone (maintenance and pilots included) center around the “Dirty Dozen.” The Dirty Dozen consist of 12 contributing factors that can set you up to make an error. While human factors (HF) training will help lower human error we must also provide a work environment that is resistant to human error. This is the role of a Safety Management System (SMS) of which HF training is a part of. HF training will help ensure the success of any SMS and is an integral part of any SMS seeking to lower human error to as low as reasonable. Human Factors Industry News 3 Most plane accidents happen while still at airports KUALA LUMPUR, Aviation statistics show that flying is still very safe, despite the headline-grabbing losses of flights MH370 and MH17 this year, said Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE. In its Global Aviation Safety Study report, the Allianz Group unit said a very significant part of insurance claims made in recent years is actually due to aircraft being unable to leave the airport in the first place.Such insurance claims are largely due to the planes being declared unsafe to fly due to “ground equipment damage” or “mechanical failure”. The report noted that damage caused by accidents while the plane is still at airport ramps are on the rise, costing the aviation industry about US$10 billion (RM35 billion) a year. “Ineffective communication is at the heart of most incidents. Contact between airplanes and ground service equipment accounts for more than 80% of incidents. “Damage from foreign objects continues to be an issue for the aviation sector, with this being the fifth highest generator of insurance claims by number. “Bird strikes are a notable cause but incidents on runways with animals such as zebras and cows can also cause losses.” The unit’s global head for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific Henning Haagen said: “Today, there are fewer fatalities or total hull losses compared with the past.” When aircraft losses do occur, the report estimated that 70% of fatal accidents are related to human error with pilot fatigue as a major contributor. Human Factors Industry News 4 “Initiatives such as crew resource management and the automated cockpit have improved safety levels, but automation can also have a downside as a number of incidents have raised the question of whether pilots are too reliant on automation in the cockpit.” But such automation also has a downside, the report noted. “Newer aircrafts are highly exposed to cyber crime due to the prevalent use of data networks, onboard computer systems and navigation systems. “The expected increase of drones in commercial use also poses as another risks as an anticipated future shortage of a skilled workforce including pilots.” Looking back, the report added: “In 2012 88% of global aviation fatalities occurred in Africa (45%) and Asia (43%). “Africa currently uses the highest percentage of second generation aircraft – over 50% of the total fleet analyzed. Upgrading the airline fleet to current generation aircraft is one of the safety initiatives which have lowered the global accident rate. “In some parts of Africa, safety and training standards are comparable to those of 50 years ago in the US or Europe.” Three Air-bag Accidents At Boeing Plant Lead To Extra Safety Measures Workers at plane-maker Boeing's Everett plant near Seattle are following extra safety measures after three air bag-related accidents, including the death of a technician last month, the company said on Friday. No one was seriously hurt when an air bag deployed on Dec. 13 as a seat supplier technician was working on a Zodiac Aerospace seat on a plane being readied for delivery, Boeing spokesman Wilson Chow said. Human Factors Industry News 5 "We understand that employees are concerned," Chow said, adding the company was holding meetings with workers and was implementing additional safeguards and inspections. "We are confident the system is safe to work on and to be around, and the seat- belt air bag poses no risk to the flying public," Chow said. The accidental discharge of a seat-belt airbag happened because a bent connector pin caused a short circuit, he said. Chow confirmed a third incident but could not provide specifics, such as injuries or cause. A technician for aircraft interior supplier Jamco America died after being struck in the face when a passenger seat air-bag inflator discharged while he and another technician from a different supplier were working on a 777 on Nov. 13, the Seattle Times newspaper reported. A source who declined to be named said that workers were now following extra safety measures, including using caution tape to cordon off the seats. The Dec. 13 incident involved an actual air bag deployment, Chow said, while the Nov. 13 incident happened as the system was partially assembled. "There is widespread concern," Connie Kelliher, spokeswoman for International Association of Machinists, District Lodge 751, told the newspaper. "We are actively involved and working to ensure our members concerns are addressed." Pilots safe but Daily Air plane damaged after landing on belly A Daily Air plane landed on its belly at Taitung Airport during a training session on Sunday after the co-pilot forgot to lower the landing gear during the approach, the Taiwanese carrier said.