Transcript Situational Awareness - Aviation Human Factors

AVIA 2100 - Week 8
Human Factors and Cabin Crew
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Cabin crew
• Cabin crew are an integral part of the aircraft operating crew
• Their role is primarily concerned with safety even though
service may take up the majority of their time
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Cabin crew
• Cabin crew are the public face of safety within the airline
environment
• The actions and lead of cabin crew will have a significant
effect on customer behaviour
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Cabin crew as employees
• Cabin crew are employees working
in a hostile environment
• On average, there are more losttime injuries suffered by cabin crew
than byJoggers
• Injuries to cabin crew are a serious
issue for most airlines even when
OH&S legislations does not cover
their work environment
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Cabin crew as employees
• Hazards encountered by cabin crew include
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Lifting injuries (pax, luggage, catering trolleys)
Burns and scalds
Turbulence related injuries
RSI
DVT
Food poisoning
Sunburn (lifestyle)
Violent acts by passengers
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Cabin crew as employees
• Hazards can be mitigated in a number of ways:
• Procedures
– No service during turbulence
– Lifting protocols
– Reporting systems
• Ergonomics
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Design of lifting harnesses
Design of galleys
Design of uniforms
Design of repeatedly used equipment e.g. trays
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Cabin crew as safety professionals
• Cabin crew have a safety role to play both in
flight and in the event of an accident
• In flight, the safety role can cover passenger
health as well as aircraft emergencies
• A level of medical training is given to all
cabin crew and equipment is carried on board
• The changing demographics of travelers has
placed new pressure upon this role
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Cabin crew as medical experts
• All cabin crew are expected to be able to
provide assistance to doctors on board or to
3rd party medical services such as MedAir
• Some airlines carry defibrillators for use by
the cabin crew
• Cabin crew must also be trained to deal with
the deceased
• Are cabin crew adequately prepared for this
role?
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Cabin crew as safety professionals
• All cabin crew receive emergency procedures training both as
ab intios and annually
• Key areas are the management of evacuations, firefighting,
operating exits, teamwork and passenger management
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Cabin crew as safety professionals
• A number of accidents have highlighted the critical role that
cabin crew can play in flight
• Lack of technical knowledge has been shown to be an issue
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Cabin crew technical knowledge
• Cabin crew don’t know what they don’t know…
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Cabin crew and CRM
• Many airlines now have either separate or integrated CRM
courses for cabin crew
• For some carriers, this was a late development
• The two cultures could be very different and communication
was often very poor or non-existent
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Cabin crew and CRM
• The flight deck door was generally seen
as a barrier to communication, or indeed
an excuse
• The concept of a ‘sterile cockpit’ could
be confusing
• Neither crew seemed to understand each
other’s role and needs
• Increased security post S11 has had a
negative effect on crew communication
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The life of cabin crew
• Several human factors issues are associated with the lifestyle
including;
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Party-hard mentality
Exposure to disease
Isolation
Unsociable hours
Pace of work
Sleep loss / disturbance
Workplace injury
Sexuality (STDs, discrimination, harassment)
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Aircraft emergencies
• Up to 70% of aircraft accidents are now survivable
• Assertive cabin crew can expedite emergency evacuations
• Commercial pressures threaten crew complements (1: 36 to 1:50)
• Passengers look to cabin crew for their lead
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Aircraft emergencies
• The ability of cabin crew to perform in an emergency is a
function of:
– Training
– Preparation
– Crashworthiness
– Leadership
– Equipment
– Experience
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Aircraft emergencies
• Experience of emergencies may be
very limited
• Simulation facilities tend to be
much less realistic than for flight
deck crew
• Many airlines underestimate the
need for training to de-sensitise
crew
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The future?
• Increased pressure from aging
population and increased cabin
crew to passenger ration
• Increasing threat of inflight
violence
• Larger aircraft - more difficult to
communicate
• Increase in survivable accidents?
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