Human Factors
Human Factors
HUMAN FACTORS
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Module 09 – Human Factor
Table of contents
09.01 General.
09.06 Tasks.
09.07 Communication.
Chapter 09.01
GENERAL
HF definition
HF definition
SHELL model
The SHELL model is an acronym, whose letters are the capital letters of
each subject area:
SHELL model
SHELL model
L-E: not very comfortable places of work, too loud noises, insufficient lightning,
fumes, extreme temperatures, etc;
L-L: the faults of communication between colleagues, or during the shift change,
insufficient staff, lack of supervision, lack of supporting managers,etc;
HF evolution
The first studies on the Human factor started in 1910 (in England).
During World War I the aircraft became more and more eleborated.
There is the problem about staff training. During World War II the study
on Human factor was strengthened, the focus moved to the
psychological aspects in order to solve some of the operating problems.
HF evolution
In the Nineties the study of the human factor started getting in the
world of maintenance thanks to the MRM courses (Maintenance
Resources Management). They stand to maintenance as CRM courses
stand to pilots.
In 2003 the human factor training has been made compulsory by the
European regulations.
About 70% of all the accidents and the mishaps are due to human
errors, made in one part of the process. They may be errors made by
pilots, by air-traffic controllers, by maintenance technicians, by planner
engineer, by ramp men, etc.
Murphy law
Each reported accident was foreseeable and it could have been avoided
if the chain of the events had been broken →The maintenance error is
one of the rings of the chain.
Chapter 09.02
Information processing
The term information processing describes the way our brain analyzes
the information, gives it the right meaning, remembers it and acts in
consequence.
Information processing
Processing information is a
very complex and articulate
process and it requires the
use of simplified schematic
models.
Mental model
This does not depend only on the information coming from our sense
organs, but it depends also on the way they are interpreted.
Situation Awareness
The term situation awareness is related to the operator awareness about the
whole operational situation in relation to its possible and probable developments.
The degree of professional experience tends also to influence the kind of error that
can be done in case of loss of Situation Awareness.
Decision making
Vision
The eye is a sphere, with a part in direct touch with the outer world. The
eye has got a natural contact lens, called cornea, in charge of focusing.
The light gets through the cornea and gets into the pupil that is a hole in
the middle of the eye. According to the strength of the light the pupil
changes its dimension. This enables an adjustment of the quantity of
light that actually can get into the eye.
Then the light passes through a lens, called crystalline, behind the pupil.
The crystalline is a system that enables focusing, working as a lens that
changes its curvature, according to the change of distance of the
objects. The crystalline, changing its curvature, permits the image to fall
down on the retina.
Vision
In the eye backside there is the retina, which is the film where the
image imprints. Retina consists of light-sensitive cells, called
photoreceptors.
They have different reaction time: the rods have longer reaction time
(until 30 minutes). The cones have a short reaction time (until 7
minutes).
Vision
You do not have to stare at the objects because in this case the image
falls on the fovea where there are not rods.
So you need to move your eyes, making a scanning, to let the image fall
on the rods in order to be recognized.
Hearing
The ear is the organ of the sense of hearing, which fulfils two different
functions: it is in charge of detecting sounds and it plays a major role in
the sense of balance.
Hearing
Hearing
Outer ear
It collects the sound waves and transmits it in a mechanical way. It
consists of the pinna, by the ear canal and by the eardrum. The eardrum
is a thin membrane that closes the canal and works as a drum.
Middle ear
It transmits in a mechanical way. The middle ear is a cavity that includes
three small bones, called incus, malleus and stirrup.
Inner ear
It changes sound waves into chemical and electric impulses. Then they
are sent, through the acoustic nerve, to the cerebral cortex. The
vibration of the stirrup makes the cochlea vibrate. In this way the fluid
inside it begins to move and its movement makes the cells move.
Hearing
Hearing protection
Perception
Fear of height
Working at significant heights can also be a problem for some aircraft
maintenance engineers, especially when doing ‘crown’ inspections (top
of fuselage, etc.). Some engineers may be so uncomfortable that they
are far more concerned about the height, and holding on to the access
equipment, than they are about the job in hand.
Attention
Attention
Attention
Sustained Attention: sustained attention is the one you have to pay for
long. In general, you do not always pay a high degree of concentration.
Attention intensity on what you are doing depends mostly on the
orderliness of the activity. The higher is the habit of carrying out specific
activities, the lower is the degree of attention you pay. On the contrary,
the newer is the action, unknown or dangerous, the higher is the
attention you pay.
Memory
Our brain has more or less temporary stockrooms that let us understand
information, associate them the right meaning and remember them
when necessary.
Memory
Memory
Memory
The long-term memory can be divided into declarative (explicit) and procedural
(implicit) memory.
Chapter 09.03
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Responsibility
Motivation
Motivation is a determinant factor for the effectiveness of the professional
performance and for this reason it must be highly considered. It represents the
difference between what an individual is able to do and what he will do. According to
the position in the pyramid of needs, human behavior is motivated.
Safety culture
Team work
Team work
Peer pressure: the term peer pressure is used to describe the tendency
of colleagues to make the others conform to a certain kind of behavior
or to the group opinions. This tendency may be expressed in different
forms, like hurrying someone to speed up activities, pushing others to
conform to habits in contrast with safety, such as taking shortcuts during
routine activities and not to consult the handbook, sometimes using
irreverent sentences like: “Do you really believe to consult the
handbook for such a simple task? Please...”
Team work
Social laziness: the social laziness is the tendency to devolve tasks to the
other members of the group. This tendency becomes extreme if there
isn’t a clear subdivision of duties and tasks. The social laziness has been
studied in the behavior of crews.
Relational skills
To work successfully in a
group, it is necessary to know
rules, but this is not enough. It
is also necessary to develop
relational abilities and to
address to other people in a
positive way.
Main relational skills
expressed by a successful
group are communication,
cooperation, coordination and
mutual support.
Relational skills
Management
Management
Team leader
The term leader means a person who can influence and lead the
behavior of the group, who generally is in the uppermost position in the
company.
Team leader
Chapter 09.04
Circadian rhythms
Circadian rhythms
Circadian rhythms
Circadian rhythms
Circadian rhythms
Body temperature
As for machines the level of temperature shows the work that the
machine is carrying out. When the machine is hot it means that it is
working, when it is cold it means that it is at rest.
Also, for the human body, temperature shows the metabolism level or
better if it is working at the top or at the bottom level. Foe example a
decrease in temperature means a decrease of the mental performance.
Appetite
During the night, when you sleep, stimuli of hunger are inhibited,
because the organism is resting, and extra energy received by eating is
not necessary. On the contrary, wakefulness activates centers provoking
sensation of appetite, or hunger to put energy in the organism.
Stress
Stress
Workload
Let’s imagine carrying out in two hours three easy and unimportant
tasks. If you decrease time, of one hour or thirty minutes, or if you
increase the importance, with difficult duties, the workload will increase
consequently. A particular stressor is represented by time pressure. One
consequence can be push technicians taking procedural shortcut, risking
this way to infringe the rules.
Workload
There are then different levels of workload varying from very light to
very hard workload:
• Overload
• High load
• Normal workload
• Underload or insufficient workload.
Sleep
Sleep: NREM
Sleep: REM
Shift
Night shifts are very dangerous for safety because at night the quality of
physical, but especially of mental performance decreases.
The investigations on aircraft accidents, whose cause is to be found in
an error in maintenance activities, have revealed that most of these
activities have been carried out during a nightshift.
Shift
Shifts can be divided in 8 hours or 12 hours shifts. The most common shift
is 8 hours one. The shifts turnover is divided in fixed, weekly and
alternating and follows general rules.
Shift
Fixed work
• Circadian rhythms keep the diurnal trend during the first 3 days of
night shift
• They start changing during the fourth night, but the adjustment is
not immediate
• After a maximum of 5 days of work you have at least 2 days of rest
(in these 2 days the organism takes at once its diurnal trend again).
Shift
Weekly shift
• Weekly shifts are not optimal → After one week, just when the
organism begins getting used, the shift changes again → It makes
the rhythms to adjust again
• This shift causes a serious fatigue.
Alternating shift
• Shift type changes every 2 or 3 days
• These are the best shifts → over the 5 weekly working days there
are maximum 3-night shifts, one after the other, to give the lowest
fatigue of de-synchronization → the body keeps the diurnal rhythm
Fatigue
Fatigue
Fatigue
Countermeasures:
• To follow general rules indicated for sleep health and for
management of fatigue
• When you work on shifts it is necessary that technicians fix the time
for meals and rest
• It is necessary to weigh up the effective possibility of carrying out
night overtime shifts.
Medicines
Drugs are also substances altering mental functions. They are absolutely
contra-indicated for safety and drug-taking is forbidden for people
working in the aviation field.
Chapter 09.05
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Noise
Noise
Noise in the workplace can have adverse effects in both the short and
the long term.
Noise management
The organization is
responsible for putting
noise control systems in
place.
Noise management
Illumination
Illumination problems
Fumes
Fumes represent a problem for the engineer in terms of both health and
performance. They can also cause local irritations such as irritation of
the eyes.
Temperature
Vibration
Working environment
Chapter 09.06
TASKS
For example, the technician can try to answer the following questions
before starting a task:
• Do I exactly know what the task is about and how it would be
carried out?
• Are sources, instruments, people, equipment, documentation and
supports available to carry out the task in a successful way?
• Am I sufficiently skilled to accomplish the task?
The repetitive and the routine tasks require an average cognitive effort.
In order to carry out these tasks a certain level of mental elaboration is
required. It is necessary to pay a higher attention than during physical
tasks. The ever-similar repetition of the actions causes a natural fall of
attention.
Complacency
Visual inspection
Complex system
All the skills we exert to carry out a work in a complex system require a
very high cognitive effort and a very high level of processing
information. The activity of searching breakdowns is a classic example.
Analysis of the problem, diagnosis, problem solving, reasoning, decision
making are all very high cognitive skills that are used when carrying out
tasks in a complex system.
Chapter 09.07
COMMUNICATION
Definition
When the sender communicates with the receiver but has no real time
answer, this is called a one-way communication. The technician reads
the note but can’t reply or eventually clarify any doubt immediately.
Definition
Asynchronous communication does not take place in real time. This kind
of communication is typical of maintenance. Notices, messages,
guidelines, job cards are written and read later on by technicians.
Following Reason model, errors can occur, but they do not have
immediate consequence and are therefore latent. This is especially true
for pilots and maintenance technicians
Functions
Errors in communication
Effective communication
To perform an effective
written communication
there is a 4 C rule to be
followed:
CLEAR: communication
must be written in a legible
handwriting, capital letters
CORRECT: it must refer to
manuals and procedures
COMPLETE: no information
has to be left out
CONCISE: communication
must be synthetic, no
unnecessary details.
Keeping up to date
Chapter 09.08
HUMAN ERROR
Error definition
Generally, the term error means any action that departs from what has
been programmed or expected.
Error classification
Error classification
Error classification
Violation definition
Violations means conscious deeds that depart from the rule, and which
can involve a safety hazard.
To the contrary, in some way they assume they are following a better
strategy than the one specified, violating with the purpose of saving
time or to avoid a pointless rule.
Rasmussen model
Rasmussen model
This model connects errors on the basis of three different levels of behaviour:
Skill-based. This is the least binding level on the cognitive plane. The actions
accomplished are carried out automatically, without conscious attention and
are the result of a lot of practice.
Reason model
Reason model
The danger arises when the holes that represent the errors and
problems are lined up with one another. This way, they open the
passage so that a problem generated in more remote parts of the
system reaches front-line operation causing an accident.
James Reason defines this alignment of active and latent errors as the
accident trajectory.
The errors made by direct operators, such as pilots, air traffic controllers
and partly by engineers are called active failures.
These active errors have an immediate consequence on safety, as they
directly cause a failure, or in more serious cases, a true and proper
accident.
Reason model
In the aviation system, errors are made also in other spheres, i.e. sectors not
directly linked with a critical event. These are called latent failures, as their
consequences are delayed in time. It is important to remember that latent failures
are the hardest to detect because they are made in sectors of the system not
directly connected with management of the aircraft.
Errors and problems are inherent in every part of the system: they must be
identified and blocked immediately through “safety barriers” to prevent them from
having consequences. The safety barriers are therefore the actions carried out to
solve the error.
The danger arises when the holes that represent the errors and problems are lined
up with one another. This way, they open the passage so that a problem generated
in more remote parts of the system reaches front-line operation causing an
accident. James Reason defines this alignment of active and latent errors as the
“accident trajectory”.
Error management
Error management
Error reduction
It is the lowering the likelihood of an error being made. It requires an
upstream intervention before the error made.
Error capture
It is the strategy presumes that the error has already been made. The
objective of intervention is to locate it before the aircraft flies. Example:
double checks.
Error tolerance
It is the capability of the system to absorb the error without it having
effects and therefore of annulling its consequences. Example:
redundancy of the system.
Chapter 09.09
SAFETY MANAGEMENT
The concept of aviation safety management systems is clearly defined in the ICAO
Safety Management Manual (SMM).
Safety Promotion
Just Culture
One key to the successful implementation of safety regulation is to attain a “just culture”
reporting environment within aviation organisations, regulators and investigation
authorities. This effective reporting culture depends on how those organisations handle
blame and punishment.
Only a very small proportion of human actions that are unsafe are deliberate (e.g. criminal
activity, substance abuse, use of controlled substances, reckless noncompliance, sabotage,
etc.) and as such deserve sanctions of appropriate severity. A blanket amnesty on all
unsafe acts would lack credibility in the eyes of employees and could be seen to oppose
natural justice. A “no-blame” culture per se is therefore neither feasible nor desirable.
What is needed is a “just culture”, an atmosphere of trust in which people are
encouraged, even rewarded, for providing essential safety-related information - but in
which they are also clear about where the line must be drawn between acceptable and
unacceptable behaviour.
Chapter 09.10
Dirty dozen
Dirty dozen
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