HUMAN FACTORS
SAFETY COMMUNICATION — A VITAL COMPONENT OF AIRWORTHINESS
BY DR. PAUL KRIVONOS
MOST PEOPLE ASSOCIATE AIRWORTHINESS WITH THE MECHANICAL VIABILITY AND EFFICACY OF AIRCRAFT IN ADDITION TO THE WORK OF AVIATION MAINTENANCE TECHNICIANS (AMTS) WHO MAKE SURE AIRCRAFT ARE READY FOR A SAFE FLIGHT. THIS WORK CAN INCLUDE PREFLIGHT AND MAINTENANCE INSPECTIONS, CHECKING REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION, AND ANY REPAIR OR OTHER MAINTENANCE ISSUES THAT MAY ARISE.
John Vincent’s article on Safety
Promotion in the 2017 issue of Safety Matters underscores the necessity of adding at least one other aspect to the issue of airworthiness: that of safety promotion. While safety promotion is important, it is only one facet of safety communication (as evidenced by its place as Pillar 4 of ICAO’s Four Pillars of Safety Management Systems) that can impact airworthiness. This article will demonstrate the
importance of communication for AMTs as part of any safety program to maximize airworthiness and illustrate how AMTs can better understand the nature of all facets of safety communication in sustaining overall airworthiness within any aviation organization’s safety culture — no matter the size of the organization itself. Although communication is a
critical issue in all aspects of human interaction, it is an underappreciated one in aviation safety. Monan noted in a NASA report that perhaps no other essential aviation activity is as vulnerable to failure through human error and performance limitations as is communication. The FAA estimates human error as contributing factor in 60-80% of air carrier incidents and accidents — citing ineffective communication as the underlying cause of such human error, and Flight Safety Australia states that communication is a causal factor
26
DOMmagazine.com | feb 2020
in approximately 75% of aviation accidents and incidents. Clearly, the importance of safety for flight has been well established. From an airworthiness perspective Flight Safety Australia puts it a little differently: “Aircraft may fly because their wings move through the air — but they fly safely because of clear communication.”
COMMUNICATION IN THE MAIN-
TENANCE ENVIRONMENT Looking at the maintenance environment gives just as striking a portrayal of the importance of communication for aviation safety. A UK CAA monograph notes that: “Communication is possibly the most important Human Factors issue in aircraft maintenance,” and a British CAA study of maintenance-related accidents found that these were due to inadequate communication in close to 75% of those cases. A Transport Canada report notes that chief among causes of maintenance errors was poor communication, while ICAO feels that “Information transfer and communication are probably the most critical Human Factors in aviation maintenance.” Flight Safety Australia notes that mechanics cannot work safely without effective communication; that to be more effective maintenance personnel must develop communication, teamwork, and
leadership — the last two reliant on effective communication: In an industry where lives depend on complex machines functioning perfectly, the instructions on how to maintain them are vitally important. Your words matter — make no mistake. The article adds that although
communication is the basis of aviation engineering safety, it is one of its most neglected and undervalued areas for Aviation Maintenance Technicians: “. . . accurate communication is essential for the safe maintenance of aircraft. In fact one MRO examined its database of maintenance events: of the 28 investigated errors in the database, 21 listed communication as a key contributing factor — and all 21 of those involved supervisor-to- technician communication. Shift changes can be particularly susceptible to instances of miscommunication and misinterpretation. For example, an AMT might leave mid-task at the end of shift, and the next AMT might misinterpret the job status due to poor notes or a rushed discussion about end-of-shift tasks with little time for clarification. Human Factors Industry News
described an incident where an AMT scrawled the words “only fitted ring” before he left for the day. The incoming shift then assumed he’d only had time to fit a variable
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
