Human Factors Syllabus

HUMAN FACTORS SYLLABUS BY : ENG. M.
RASOOL
USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 001

HUMAN FACTORS SYLLABUS BY : ENG. M. RASOOL
PURPOSE :
1 It is intended to show how human factors capabilities and limitations
can influence task performance and safety within the
maintenance and inspection environments.
2 Increase your awareness to ;
Ensure continuing safety and efficiency by paying
attention to issues that affect human performance.

Contents :
Section 01 : Introduction to Human Factors Initial Training.
Section 02 : Human Performance and Limitations.
Section 03 : Human Error.
Section 04 : HF Models .
Section 05 : Organizational Culture.
Section 06 : Accident Case Study.

SECTION 01
INTRODUCTION

Importance of Human Factors :

The greatest impact in aircraft safety in the future will not come
from improving the technology. Rather it will be from educating the
employee to recognize and prevent human error. A review of
accident related data indicates that approximately 75–80 percent of
all aviation accidents are the result of human error. Of those
accidents, about 12 percent are maintenance related.
Although pilot/co-pilot errors tend to have immediate and highly
visible effects .
maintenance errors tend to be more latent and less obvious.

Definitions of Human Factors :

Human factors are concerned with optimizing performance
Including : reducing errors so that the highest level of safety
is achieved and maintained.

What are Human Factors?

The term “human factors” has grown increasingly popular as the
commercial aviation industry realizes that human error, rather than
mechanical failure, underlies most aviation accidents and incidents.
It is a term that covers the science of understanding the properties

of human capability, the application of this understanding to the
design, development, and deployment of systems and services,
and the art of ensuring successful application of human factor
principles into the maintenance working environment.

Elements of Human Factors :

Human factors are comprised of many disciplines. This section
discusses ten of those disciplines: Clinical Psychology, Experimental
Psychology, Anthropometrics, Computer Science, Cognitive Science,
Safety Engineering, Medical Science, Organizational Psychology,
Educational Psychology, and Industrial Engineering.
The study and application of human factors is complex because
there is not just one simple answer to fix or change how people are
affected by certain conditions or situations.
The overall goal of aviation maintenance human factors research is
to identify and optimize the factors that affect human performance
in maintenance and inspection.

The focus initiates on the technician but extends to the entire

engineering and technical organization. Research is optimized by
incorporating the many disciplines that affect human factors in an
effort to understand how people can work more efficiently and
maintain work performance.
By understanding each of the disciplines and applying them to
different situations or human behaviors, we can correctly recognize
potential human factors and address them before they develop into
a problem or create a chain of problems that result in an accident or
incident.

SECTION 02
Human Performance
and Limitations

Human Performance and Limitations :

This section provides an overview of physical and mental human
performance factors which affect an Aircraft Maintenance
Technicians working environment,
such as vision, hearing, information processing, attention and
perception, memory, judgment and decision making.

Just as certain mechanical components used in aircraft maintenance

have limitations, technicians themselves have certain capabilities
and limitations that must be considered when looking at the
maintenance 'system'.
For human performance is likely to degrade and eventually 'fail'
under certain conditions (e.g. stress).
People can fail to function properly in certain situations.
Physically, humans become fatigued, are affected by cold and heat,
humans can make errors, have limited perceptual powers,
can exhibit poor judgment due to lack of skills and knowledge, etc.
In addition , human performance is also affected by
social and emotional factors.

INFORMATION PROCESSING :
Information processing is the process of receiving information
through the senses, analyzing, and making it meaningful.
We make many decisions every day. To do this, we need to have a
look at the ways in which we process information.

SENSES & RECOGNIZE :

we can perceive the same thing quite differently
This shows the influence of context on our information processing.

Memory :
is critical to our ability to act consistently and to learn new things.
Without memory, we could not capture a 'stream' of information
reaching our senses, or draw on past experience and apply this
knowledge when making decisions .
Memory can be considered to be the : storage and retention of
information, experiences and knowledge, as well as the ability to
retrieve this information .

The factors that affect an Aircraft Maintenance Technician :

Some of the main human factors include :
fitness and health, stress, time pressures and deadlines, workload,
fatigue, shift work, and the effects of alcohol and drugs .
Our physical health is effected by how we take care of our bodies .

Physical Environment :
The health of personnel affected with :
noise, fumes , illumination , climate and temperature , motion
and vibration , confined spaces and other issues .
Aircraft maintenance requires all components of the working
environment to be managed carefully in order to achieve a safe and
efficient system.
It is important to recognize that :
The workers will do the best work possible with consideration
of their working environment.

SECTION 03
HF MODELS

The HF Models :
There are many concepts related to the science and practice of
human factors. However, from a practical standpoint, it is most
helpful to have a unified view, or a model of the things we should
be concerned about when considering aviation maintenance human
factors.

The PEAR model : prompts recall of the four important factors

for human factors programs, which are listed below :
• People who do the job.
• Environment in which they work.
• Actions they perform.
• Resources necessary to complete the job.

The “SHELL” model :

is another concept for investigating and evaluating maintenance
errors.
As with other human factors tools, its goal is to determine not only
what the problem is, but where and why it exists.
SHELL was initiated by Professor James Reasons in 1990,
The acronym SHEL represents :
• Software
• Hardware
• Environment
• Live ware

Another model by professor Reason in 1993, is :

the Swiss cheese model :
shows how various “holes” in different systems must be aligned
in order for an error to occur.
Only when the holes are all aligned can the incident take place.

MURPHY’S LAW :
“WHATEVER CAN GO WRONG, WILL GO WRONG”
Yes, there really was a Murphy. He was Captain Edward Murphy ,
an Air Force engineer.
The saying came from a 1949 experiment at Edwards Air Force Base
in California.
Air Force recognized the importance of Murphy’s comments,
and the team’s safety record to “Murphy’s Law”.
it explained Murphy’s Law as :
“whatever can go wrong, will go wrong” .
Or referred to as “idiot proof”.

SECTION 4
HUMAN ERROR

Human Error :
Human error is defined as :
a human action with unintended consequences. When you couple
error with aviation maintenance and the negative consequences
that it produces, it becomes extremely troublesome.
Training, risk assessments, safety inspections, etc., should not be
restricted to an attempt to avoid errors but rather to make them
visible and identify them before they produce damaging and
regrettable consequences.
Simply put, human error is not avoidable but it is manageable.

Types of Errors :
1 Unintended :
An unintentional error is an accidental wandering or deviation from
accuracy.
This can include an error in :
1 your action , opinion , or judgment ( slip )
2 or caused by poor reasoning, carelessness,
or insufficient knowledge ( mistake )
For example, an worker reads the torque values from a job card
62 !
He or she did not mean to make that error but unknowingly and
unintentionally did.

2 Intended :
In aviation maintenance, an intentional error should really be
considered a violation.
If someone knowingly or intentionally chooses to do something
wrong, it is a violation, which means that one has purposely
deviated from safe practices, procedures, standards, or regulations.

Active and Latent :

An active error is the specific individual activity that is an obvious
event.
A latent error is the issues that lead up to the event.
Although :
pilot errors tend to have immediate and highly visible effects .
maintenance errors tend to be more latent and less obvious.

There are also four consequences of human error :

1.Little or no effect.
2.Damage to equipment/hardware.
3.Personal injury.
4.Catastrophic.

The “Dirty Dozen” :

Due to a large number of maintenance-related aviation accidents
and incidents that occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s,
Transport Canada identified twelve human factors :
that degrade people’s ability to perform effectively and safely,
which could lead to maintenance errors.
These twelve factors, known as the “dirty dozen,”
It is important to know the dirty dozen, how to recognize their
symptoms, and most importantly, know how to avoid or contain
errors produced by the dirty dozen.
Understanding the interaction between individual factors that may
lead to errors and accidents, will prevent or manage error.

01 LACK OF COMMUNICATION .
02 LACK OF KNOWLEDGE .
03 LACK OF TEAM WORK .
04 LACK OF RESOURCES .
05 DISTRUCTION .
06 FATIGUE .
07 PRESSURE .
08 STRESS .
09 LACK OF AWARNESS .
10 OVER CONFIDENCE .
11 LACK OF ASSERTIVENESS .
12 NORMS .













Example of Common Maintenance Errors :

The following list is what they found to be the most common
occurring maintenance errors :
1.Incorrect installation of components.
2.Fitting of wrong parts.
3.Electrical wiring discrepancies to include crossing connections.
4.Forgotten tools and parts.
5.Failure to lubricate.
6.Failure to secure access panels, fairings, or cowlings.
7.Fuel or oil caps and fuel panels not secured.
8.Failure to remove lock pins.

SECTION 5
ORGANIZATION CULTURE

GROUP OR TEAM RESPONSIBILITY :

Group responsibility has its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages are that each member of the group ought to feel
responsible for the output of that group, not just their own output
as an individual.
The disadvantage of group responsibility is that it can potentially act
against safety, with responsibility being diluted to such an extent
that no one feels personally responsible. Often while an individual
on his own may take action; once placed within a group, may not act
if none of the other group members do so. Each member of the
group or team often just assumes that ‘someone else will do it’.


MOTIVATION :
Motivated behavior is goal directed, purposeful behavior.
No human behavior occurs without some kind of motivation behind
it. Generally we say a person is motivated if they take action to
achieve something .
Highly motivated people tend to show the following characteristics:
• high performance and results being consistently achieved .
• the energy, enthusiasm and determination to succeed .
• unstinting cooperation in overcoming problems .
• willingness to accept responsibility .
• willingness to accommodate change .


DEMOTIVATION :
People who are demotivated lack motivation, either internally or
through a failure of their management to motivate them.
Demotivated people tend to demonstrate the following
characteristics:
• reduced regard for safety while working .
• a poor record of time keeping and high absenteeism .
• a lack of cooperation in dealing with problems or difficulties .
The motivating effects of job security and the ,
demotivating impact of lack of job security .

SAFETY CULTURE :
Safety culture basically involves the attitudes coworkers hold about the
company’s approach to safety, and belief of control risk .
In the working environment, safe and professional practices are :
not only Expected normal behavior, but are reinforced and supported
by management ;
(even when under considerable pressure to get the aircraft serviceable and
on line).
In this type of culture, personnel will tend to ‘do it by the book’ and take
the time to ensure the appropriate work, inspections, and signoffs are
actually carried out.


MANAGEMENT, AND LEADERSHIP :

It is no good instilling the engineers and technicians
if these are not supported by their supervisors and managers.
A leader in a given situation is a person whose ideas and actions
influence the thought and the behavior of others.
There are In terms of the relationship between :
managers, and technicians, a ‘them and us’ attitude is not conducive
to improving the safety culture of an organization.
It is important that managers, supervisors, and technicians all work
together rather than against one another to ensure that aircraft
maintenance improves airworthiness

• Leadership is not power : The person who sticks a gun in your back
has power, but not leadership .
• Position is assigned from above .
• leadership is conferred from below.
• Leadership is not authority but have followers .
if bosses do not lead, they will not have followers .
• Leadership is not management. Managing is a planned activity :
leadership is more spontaneous.
• Managers do things right.
• Leaders do the right things.


SECTION 6
ACCIDENT CASE STUDY

Accidents that were caused by Lack of Situational Awareness

that crashed on England on
Jan 8th 1989 . which happened due to a engine failure and because
of how the crew members were stressed ; The pilots as a result shut
down the functioning engine ! ultimately leading to engine fire .

Accidents that were caused by the Lack of Communication

the Avianca ight 52 crash in Jamaica which occurred due to a
miscommunication between crew members and ATC 1990 .
Investigators concluded that there might have been a
miscommunication between the US flight crew and the Colombian
ATC because of language barriers .

Accidents that were caused by Lack of Assertiveness

The United Airlines Flight 173 crash during the approach to Portland
International Airport in 1978. As per investigations, the crash
occurred due to the captain chose not to respond properly to his
crew members' advisories concerning the fuel state, So, he/she
thought that the fuel condition was sufficient to reach the
destination .

Accidents that were caused by Distractions

the Eastern airlines ight 401 crash on December 29th 1972 after
receiving a clearance by the Miami approach control. The prime
cause of the crash , is lack of attention. Since the crew members
weren't able to fully pay attention to the flight instruments, The
main reason for the lack of attention was that the crew had already
been engaged in solving an issue regarding the position of the nose's
landing gear .

Accidents that were caused by the Lack of Knowledge

the Airbus A320-200 incident, when the left wing tip of the aircraft
was dipped. The captain tried to recover it; however, it dipped
further. After finding the reason behind this problem they found that
the side stick at the captain sides had reversed roll. The main reason
being the maintenance personal working on aircraft and during this
they had switched the two pairs of pins in the connector .

Accidents that were caused by Pressure and Stress

American Airlines Flight 965 crash on December 20th 1995, was a
Boeing 757 which crashed into a Colombia . According to the
investigations, the aircraft was making a rushed descend at its final
approach, when the crew lost its positional awareness at night.
Where the crew failed to respond to the 'PULL UP' warning of
Ground Proximity Warning System, formally known as (GPWS). As a
result, the aircraft impacted the terrain with heavy losses .

Accidents that were caused by Complacency

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 accident on April 28th, 1988 . Where the
.
The investigation report concluded that the maintenance program
failed to recognize the big disbanding & damaged inflicted to the
fuselage .

END OF TRAINING
BEST REGARDS BY :
YOUR INSTRUCTOR :
ENG. M. RASOOL

Human Factors Syllabus

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Human Factors Syllabus

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Human Factors Syllabus

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

HUMAN FACTORS SYLLABUS BY : ENG. M.

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 001

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 002

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 003

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 004

Importance of Human Factors :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 005

Definitions of Human Factors :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 006

What are Human Factors?

It is a term that covers the science of understanding the properties

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 007

Elements of Human Factors :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 008

The focus initiates on the technician but extends to the entire

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 009

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 010

Human Performance and Limitations :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 011

Just as certain mechanical components used in aircraft maintenance

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 012

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 013

SENSES & RECOGNIZE :

This shows the influence of context on our information processing.

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 014

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 015

The factors that affect an Aircraft Maintenance Technician :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 016

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 017

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 018

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 019

The PEAR model : prompts recall of the four important factors

• Environment in which they work.

• Actions they perform.

• Resources necessary to complete the job.

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 020

The “SHELL” model :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 021

Another model by professor Reason in 1993, is :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 022

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 023

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 024

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 025

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 026

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 027

Active and Latent :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 028

There are also four consequences of human error :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 029

The “Dirty Dozen” :

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 030

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 031

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 032

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 033

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 034

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 035

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 036

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 037

USED FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING PURPOSE BY APPROVED TRAINER ONLY. 038