HUMAN FACTORS

CAP – 715 (Chapter – 4)

 FACTORS AFFECTING
PERFORMANCE
The performance abilities and limitations of aircraft
maintenance engineers have been described in Chapter 2.
Other factors may also impinge on the engineer,
potentially rendering him less able to carry out his work
and attain the levels of safety required. These include
fitness and health, stress, time pressures, workload,
fatigue and the effects of medication, alcohol and drugs.
These subjects are discussed in this chapter.
 Fitness and Health
The job of an aircraft maintenance engineer can be physically demanding. In addition, his
work may have to be carried out in widely varying physical environments, including
cramped spaces, extremes of temperature, etc. (as discussed in the next chapter). There
are at present no defined requirements for physical or mental fitness for engineers or
maintenance staff. ICAO Annex 11 states: “An applicant shall, before being issued with any
licence or rating [for personnel other than flight crew members], meet such requirements
in respect of age, knowledge, experience and, where appropriate, medical fitness and skill,
as specified for that licence or rating.”
In the UK, the ICAO requirements are enforced through the provision of Article 13
(paragraph 7) of the Air Navigation order (ANO)2. This states: “The holder of an aircraft
maintenance engineer’s licence shall not exercise the privileges of such a licence if he
knows or suspects that his physical or mental condition renders him unfit to exercise such
privileges.”
There are two aspects to fitness and health: the disposition of the engineer prior to
taking on employment and the day-to-day well being of the engineer once employed.
 Pre-employment Disposition
Some employers may require a medical upon commencement of
employment. This allows them to judge the fitness and health of an applicant
(and this may also satisfy some pension or insurance related need). There is
an obvious effect upon an engineer’s ability to perform maintenance or carry
out inspections if through poor physical fitness or health he is constrained in
some way (such as his freedom of movement, or his sight). In addition, an
airworthiness authority, when considering issuing a licence, will consider
these factors and may judge the condition to be of such significance that a
licence could not be issued. This would not, however, affect the individual’s
possibility of obtaining employment in an alternative post within the industry
where fitness and health requirements are less stringent.
 Day-to-Day Fitness and Health
Fitness and health can have a significant affect upon job performance (both physical
and cognitive). Day-to-day fitness and health can be reduced through illness (physical
or mental) or injury.

JAR 66.50 imposes a requirement that “certifying staff must not exercise the privileges
of their certification authorisation if they know or suspect that their physical or mental
condition renders them unfit.”

Responsibility falls upon the individual aircraft maintenance engineer to determine

whether he is not well enough to work on a particular day. Alternatively, his colleagues
or supervisor may persuade or advise him to absent himself until he feels better. In
fact, as the CAA’s Airworthiness Notice No. 47 (AWN47)1 points out, it is a legal
requirement for aircraft maintenance engineers to make sure they are fit for work:
“Fitness: In most professions there is a duty of care by the individual to assess his or her own fitness to
carry out professional duties. This has been a legal requirement for some time for doctors, flight crew
members and air traffic controllers. Licensed aircraft maintenance engineers are also now required by law
to take a similar professional attitude. Cases of subtle physical or mental illness may not always be
apparent to the individual but as engineers often work as a member of a team any substandard
performance or unusual behaviour should be quickly noticed by colleagues or supervisors who should
notify management so that appropriate support and counselling action can be taken.”
 
Many conditions can impact on the health and fitness of an engineer and there is not space here to offer a
complete list. However, such a list would include:
• Minor physical illness (such as colds, ‘flu, etc.);
• More major physical illness (such as HIV, malaria, etc.);
• Mental illness (such as depression, etc.);
• Minor injury (such as a sprained wrist, etc.);
• Major injury (such as a broken arm, etc.);
• Ongoing deterioration in physical condition, possibly associated with the ageing process (such as hearing
loss, visual defects, obesity, heart problems, etc.);
• Affects of toxins and other foreign substances (such as carbon monoxide poisoning, alcohol, illicit drugs,
etc.).
This document does not attempt to give hard and fast guidelines as to what constitutes
‘unfit for work’; this is a complex issue dependent upon the nature of the illness or
condition, its effect upon the individual, the type of work to be done, environmental
conditions, etc. Instead, it is important that the engineer is aware that his performance,
and consequently the safety of aircraft he works on, might be affected adversely by
illness or lack of fitness.
An engineer may consider that he is letting down his colleagues by not going to work
through illness, especially if there are ongoing manpower shortages. However, he should
remind himself that, in theory, management should generally allow for contingency for
illness. Hence the burden should not be placed upon an individual to turn up to work
when unfit if no such contingency is available. Also, if the individual has a contagious
illness (e.g. ‘flu), he may pass this on to his colleagues if he does not absent himself from
work and worsen the manpower problem in the long run. There can be a particular
problem with some contract staff due to loss of earnings or even loss of contract if
absent from work due to illness. They may be tempted to disguise their illness, or may
not wish to admit to themselves or others that they are ill. This is of course
irresponsible, as the illness may well adversely affect the contractor’s standard of work.
 Positive Measures
Aircraft maintenance engineers can take common sense steps to maintain their
fitness and health. These include:
• Eating regular meals and a well-balanced diet;
• Taking regular exercise (exercise sufficient to double the resting pulse rate for 20
minutes, three times a week is often recommended);
• Stopping smoking;
• Sensible alcohol intake (for men, this is no more than 3 - 4 units a day or 28 per
week, where a unit is equivalent to half a pint of beer or a glass of wine or spirit);

Finally, day-to-day health and fitness can be influenced by the use of medication,
alcohol and illicit drugs. These are covered later in Section 6.
 Stress: Domestic and Work Related

Stress is an inescapable part of life for all of us.

Stress can be defined as any force, that when applied to a system, causes
some significant modification of its form, where forces can be physical,
psychological or due to social pressures. 

From a human viewpoint, stress results from the imposition of any

demand or set of demands which require us to react, adapt or behave in a
particular manner in order to cope with or satisfy them. Up to a point,
such demands are stimulating and useful, but if the demands are beyond
our personal capacity to deal with them, the resulting stress is a problem.
 Causes and Symptoms
Stress is usually something experienced due to the presence of some form of stressor, which
might be a one-off stimulus (such as a challenging problem or a punch on the nose), or an on-
going factor (such as an extremely hot hangar or an acrimonious divorce). From these, we get
acute stress (typically intense but of short duration) and chronic stress (frequent recurrence
or of long duration) respectively.

Different stressors affect different people to varying extents. Stressors may be:
• Physical - such as heat, cold, noise, vibration, presence of something damaging to health
(e.g. carbon monoxide);
• Psychological - such as emotional upset (e.g. due to bereavements, domestic problems,
etc.), worries about real or imagined problems (e.g. due to financial problems, ill health, etc.);
• Reactive - such as events occurring in everyday life (e.g. working under time pressure,
encountering unexpected situations, etc.).
AWN47 points out that:
“A stress problem can manifest itself by signs of irritability, forgetfulness, sickness absence,
mistakes, or alcohol or drug abuse. Management have a duty to identify individuals who may be
suffering from stress and to minimise workplace stresses. Individual cases can be helped by
sympathetic and skilful counselling which allows a return to effective work and licensed duties.”
 
In brief, the possible signs of stress can include:
• Physiological symptoms - such as sweating, dryness of the mouth, etc.;
• Health effects - such as nausea, headaches, sleep problems, diarrhoea, ulcers, etc.;
• Behavioural symptoms - such as restlessness, shaking, nervous laughter, taking longer over tasks,
changes to appetite, excessive drinking, etc.;
• Cognitive effects - such as poor concentration, indecision, forgetfulness, etc.;
• Subjective effects - such as anxiety, irritability, depression, moodiness, aggression, etc.

It should be noted that individuals respond to stressful situations in very different ways. Generally
speaking though, people tend to regard situations with negative consequences as being more
stressful than when the outcome of the stress will be positive (e.g. the difference between being
made redundant from work and being present at the birth of a son or daughter).
 Domestic Stress
When aircraft maintenance engineers go to work, they cannot leave
stresses associated with home behind. Pre-occupation with a source of
domestic stress can play on one’s mind during the working day, distracting
from the working task. Inability to concentrate fully may impact on the
engineer’s task performance and ability to pay due attention to safety.

Domestic stress typically results from major life changes at home, such as
marriage, birth of a child, a son or daughter leaving home, bereavement of
a close family member or friend, marital problems, or divorce.
 Work Related Stress
Aircraft maintenance engineers can experience stress for two reasons at work:
because of the task or job they are undertaking at that moment, or because of the
general organisational environment. Stress can be felt when carrying out certain
tasks that are particularly challenging or difficult. This stress can be increased by lack
of guidance in this situation, or time pressures to complete the task or job (covered
later in this chapter). This type of stress can be reduced by careful management,
good training, etc.

Within the organisation, the social and managerial aspects of work can be stressful.
Chapter 3 discussed the impact on the individual of peer pressure, organizational
culture and management, all of which can be stressors. In the commercial world
that aircraft maintenance engineers work in, shift patterns, lack of control over own
workload, company reorganisation and job uncertainty can also be sources of stress.
 Stress Management

Once we become aware of stress, we generally respond to it by using one of two strategies: defence or
coping.
Defence strategies involve alleviation of the symptoms (taking medication, alcohol, etc.) or reducing the
anxiety (e.g. denying to yourself that there is a problem (denial), or blaming someone else).
Coping strategies involve dealing with the source of the stress rather than just the symptoms (e.g.
delegating workload, prioritising tasks, sorting out the problem, etc.).
Coping is the process whereby the individual either adjusts to the perceived demands of the situation or
changes the situation itself. 
Unfortunately, it is not always possible to deal with the problem if this is outside the control of the
individual (such as during an emergency), but there are well-published techniques for helping
individuals to cope with stress2. Good stress management techniques include:
• Relaxation techniques;
• Careful regulation of sleep and diet;
• A regime of regular physical exercise;
• Counselling - ranging from talking to a supportive friend or colleague to seeking professional advice.
There is no magic formula to cure stress and anxiety, merely common sense and practical advice.
 Time Pressure and Deadlines
There is probably no industry in the commercial environment that does not
impose some form of deadline, and consequently time pressure, on its
employees. Aircraft maintenance is no exception. It was highlighted in the
previous section that one of the potential stressors in maintenance is time
pressure. This might be actual pressure where clearly specified deadlines
are imposed by an external source (e.g. management or supervisors) and
passed on to engineers, or perceived where engineers feel that there are
time pressures when carrying out tasks, even when no definitive deadlines
have been set in stone. In addition, time pressure may be self imposed, in
which case engineers set themselves deadlines to complete work (e.g.
completing a task before a break or before the end of a shift).
Management have contractual pressures associated with ensuring an
aircraft is released to service within the time frame specified by their
customers. Striving for higher aircraft utilisation means that more
maintenance must be accomplished in fewer hours, with these hours
frequently being at night. Failure to do so can impact on flight
punctuality and passenger satisfaction. Thus, aircraft maintenance
engineers have two driving forces: the deadlines handed down to them
and their responsibilities to carry out a safe job. The potential conflict
between these two driving pressures can cause problems.
 The Effects of Time Pressure and
Deadlines
As with stress, it is generally thought that some time pressure is
stimulating and may actually improve task performance. However, it is
almost certainly true that excessive time pressure (either actual or
perceived, external or self-imposed), is likely to mean that due care and
attention when carrying out tasks diminishes and more errors willm be
made. Ultimately, these errors can lead to aircraft incidents and
accidents.
It is possible that perceived time pressure would appear to have been a
contributory factor in the BAC 1-11 accident described in Chapter 1. Although
the aircraft was not required the following morning for operational use, it was
booked for a wash. The wash team had been booked the previous week and an
aircraft had not been ready. This would have happened again, due to short-
staffing, so the Shift Manager decided to carry out the windscreen replacement
task himself so that the aircraft would be ready in time.

An extract from the NTSB report on the Aloha accident refers to time pressure
as a possible contributory factor in the accident: “The majority of Aloha's
maintenance was normally conducted only during the night. It was considered
important that the airplanes be available again for the next day's flying
schedule. Such aircraft utilization tends to drive the scheduling, and indeed, the
completion of required maintenance work. Mechanics and inspectors are forced
to perform under time pressure. Further, the intense effort to keep the airplanes
flying may have been so strong that the maintenance personnel were reluctant
to keep airplanes in the hangar any longer than absolutely necessary.”
Managing Time Pressure and Deadlines
One potential method of managing time pressures exerted on engineers is
through regulation. For example, FAA research has highlighted the need to
insulate aircraft maintenance engineers from commercial pressures. They
consider this would help to ensure that airworthiness issues will always take
precedence over commercial and time pressures. Time pressures can make
‘corner-cutting’ a cultural norm in an organisation. Sometimes, only an incident
or accident reveals such norms (the extract from the Aloha accident above
exemplifies this).
 
Those responsible for setting deadlines and allocating tasks should consider:
• Prioritising various pieces of work that need to be done;
• The actual time available to carry out work (considering breaks, shift
handovers, etc.);
• The personnel available throughout the whole job (allowing a
contingency for illness);
•The most appropriate utilisation of staff (considering an engineer’s
specialisation, and strengths and limitations);
• Availability of parts and spares.

It is important that engineering staff at all levels are not afraid to voice
concerns over inappropriate deadlines, and if necessary, cite the need
to do a safe job to support this. As highlighted in Chapter 3, within
aircraft maintenance, responsibility should be spread across all those
who play a part. Thus, the aircraft maintenance engineer should not
feel that the ‘buck stops here’.
 Workload - Overload and Underload
The preceding sections on stress and time pressure have both indicated
that a certain amount of stimulation is beneficial to an aircraft
maintenance engineer, but that too much stimulation can lead to stress
or over-commitment in terms of time. It is noteworthy that too little
stimulation can also be a problem.
 
Before going on to discuss workload, it is important to consider this
optimum level of stimulation or arousal.
 Arousal
Arousal in its most general sense, refers to readiness of a person for
performin work. To achieve an optimum level of task performance, it is
necessary to have a certain level of stimulation or arousal. This level of
stimulation or arousal varies from person to person. There are people
who are overloaded by having to do more than one task at a time; on
the other hand there are people who appear to thrive on stress, being
happy to take on more and more work or challenges. Figure 16 shows
the general relationship between arousal and task performance.
Figure 16 Optimum arousal leads to best task performance

At low levels of arousal, our attentional mechanisms will not be

particularly active and our performance capability will be low
(complacency and boredom can result). At the other end of the curve,
performance deteriorates when arousal becomes too high. To a certain
extent, this is because we are forced to shed tasks and focus on key
information only (called narrowing of attention). Best task
performance occurs somewhere in the middle.

In the work place, arousal is mainly influenced by stimulation due to

work tasks. However, surrounding environmental factors such as noise
may also influence the level of arousal.
 Factors Determining Workload
An individual aircraft maintenance engineer can usually identify what work he has to
do quite easily. It is more difficult to assess how that work translates into workload.

• The degree of stimulation exerted on an individual caused by a task is generally

referred to as workload, and can be separated into physical workload and mental
workload.

• As noted in the section on information processing in Chapter 2, humans have

limited mental capacity to deal with information. We are also limited physically, in
terms of visual acuity, strength, dexterity and so on. Thus, workload reflects the
degree to which the demands of the work we have to do eats into our mental and
physical capacities. Workload is subjective (i.e. experienced differently by different
people) and is affected by:
• The nature of the task, such as the:
• physical demands it requires (e.g. strength
required, etc.);
• mental demands it requires (e.g. complexity of
decisions to be made, etc.).
• The circumstances under which the task is
performed, such as the:
• standard of performance required (i.e. degree of
accuracy);
• time available to accomplish the task (and thus the
speed at which the task must be carried out);
• requirement to carry out the task at the same time as
doing something else;
• perceived control of the task (i.e. is it imposed by
others or under your control, etc.);
• environmental factors existing at time (e.g. extremes
of temperature, etc.).
• The person and his state, such as his:
• skills (both physical and mental);
• his experience (particularly familiarity with the task in
question);
• his current health and fitness levels;
• his emotional state (e.g. stress level, mood, etc.)
As the workload of the engineer may vary, he
may experience periods of overload and
underload. This is a particular feature of some
areas of the industry such as line
maintenance.
 Overload
Overload occurs at very high levels of workload (when the engineer becomes
overaroused). As highlighted previously, performance deteriorates when arousal
becomes too high and we are forced to shed tasks and focus on key information.
Error rates may also increase. Overload can occur for a wide range of reasons
based on the factors highlighted above. It may happen suddenly (e.g. if asked to
remember one further piece of information whilst already trying to remember a
large amount of data), or gradually. Although JAR145 states that “The JAR145
approved maintenance organisation must employ sufficient personnel to plan,
perform, supervise and inspect the work in accordance with the approval”1, and
“the JAR145 organisation should have a production man hours plan showing
that it has sufficient man hours for the work that is intended to be carried out”1,
this does not prevent individuals from becoming overloaded. As noted earlier in
this section, it can be difficult to determine how work translates into workload,
both for the individual concerned, and for those allocating tasks.
Underload
Underload occurs at low levels of workload (when the engineer
becomes underaroused). It can be just as problematic to an engineer as
overload, as it too causes a deterioration in performance and an
increase in errors, such as missed information. Underload can result
from a task an engineer finds boring, very easy, or indeed a lack of
tasks. The nature of the aircraft maintenance industry means that
available work fluctuates, depending on time of day, maintenance
schedules, and so forth. Hence, unless stimulating ‘housekeeping’ tasks
can be found, underload can be difficult to avoid at times.
Workload Management
Unfortunately, in a commercial environment, it is seldom possible to make
large amendments to maintenance schedules, nor eliminate time pressures.
The essence of workload management in aircraft maintenance should include:
• ensuring that staff have the skills needed to do the tasks they have been
asked to do and the proficiency and experience to do the tasks within the
timescales they have been asked to work within;
• making sure that staff have the tools and spares they need to do the tasks; •
allocating tasks to teams or individual engineers that are accomplishable
(without cutting corners) in the time available;
• providing human factors training to those responsible for planning so that
the performance and limitations of their staff are taken into account;
• encouraging individual engineers, supervisors and managers to recognise
when an overload situation is building up.
If an overload situation is developing, methods to help
relieve this include:
• seeking a simpler method of carrying out the work (that is
just as effective and still legitimate);
• delegating certain activities to others to avoid an individual
engineer becoming overloaded;
• securing further time in order to carry out the work safely;
• postponing, delaying tasks/deadlines and refusing
additional work.
Thus, although workload varies in aircraft maintenance
engineering, the workload of engineers can be moderated.
Much of this can be done by careful forward planning of
tasks, manpower, spares, tools and training of staff.
 Sleep, Fatigue and Shift Work
What Is Sleep?
Man, like all living creatures has to have sleep. Despite a great deal of research, the
purpose of sleep is not fully understood.
Sleep is a natural state of reduced consciousness involving changes in body and brain
physiology which is necessary to man to restore and replenish the body and brain.
Sleep can be resisted for a short time, but various parts of the brain ensure that
sooner or later, sleep occurs. When it does, it is characterised by five stages of sleep:
• Stage 1: This is a transitional phase between waking and sleeping. The heart rate
slows and muscles relax. It is easy to wake someone up.
• Stage 2: This is a deeper level of sleep, but it is still fairly easy to wake someone.
• Stage 3: Sleep is even deeper and the sleeper is now quite unresponsive to external
stimuli and so is difficult to wake. Heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature
continue to drop.
• Stage 4: This is the deepest stage of sleep and it is very difficult to wake
someone up.
• Rapid Eye Movement or REM Sleep: Even though this stage is characterized
by brain activity similar to a person who is awake, the person is even more
difficult to awaken than stage 4. It is therefore also known as paradoxical
sleep. Muscles become totally relaxed and the eyes rapidly dart back and forth
under the eyelids. It is thought that dreaming occurs during REM sleep.

Stages 1 to 4 are collectively known as non-REM (NREM) sleep. Stages 2-4

are categorized as slow-wave sleep and appear to relate to body restoration,
whereas REM sleep seems to aid the strengthening and organisation of
memories. Sleep deprivation experiments suggest that if a person is deprived
of stage 1-4 sleep or REM sleep he will show rebound effects. This means that
in subsequent sleep, he will make up the deficit in that particular type of sleep.
This shows the importance of both types of sleep.
As can be seen from Figure 17, sleep occurs
in cycles. Typically, the first REM sleep will
occur about 90 minutes after the onset of
sleep. The cycle of stage 1 to 4 sleep and
REM sleep repeats during the night about
every 90 minutes. Most deep sleep occurs
earlier in the night and REM sleep becomes
greater as the night goes on.
Figure 17 Typical cycle of stage 1-4 (NREM) sleep and REM sleep in the
course of a night.
Circadian Rhythms
Apart from the alternation between wakefulness and sleep, man has
other internal cycles, such as body temperature and hunger/eating.
These are known as circadian rhythms as they are related to the length
of the day.

Circadian rhythms are physiological and behavioural functions and

processes in the body that have a regular cycle of approximately a day
(actually about 25 hours in man).
Although, circadian rhythms are controlled by the brain,
they are influenced and synchronised by external
(environmental) factors such as light.

An example of disrupting circadian rhythms would be

taking a flight that crosses time zones. This will
interfere with the normal synchronisation with the light
and dark (day/ night). This throws out the natural link
between daylight and the body’s internal clock, causing
jet lag, resulting in sleepiness during the day, etc.
Eventually however, the circadian rhythm readjusts to
the revised environmental cues.
Figure 18 shows the circadian rhythm for body temperature.
This pattern is very robust, meaning that even if the normal
pattern of wakefulness and sleep is disrupted (by shift work for
example), the temperature cycle remains unchanged. Hence, it
can be seen that if you are awake at 4-6 o’clock in the
morning, your body temperature is in a trough and it is at this
time that is hardest to stay awake. Research has shown that this
drop in body temperature appears to be linked to a drop in
alertness and performance in man.
Although there are many contributory factors, it is
noteworthy that a number of major incidents and accidents
involving human error have either occurred or were
initiated in the pre-dawn hours, when body temperature and
performance capability are both at their lowest. These
include Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Bhopal, as well
as the BAC1-11, A320, and B737 incidents.

The engineer’s performance at this ‘low point’ will be

improved if he is well rested, feeling well, highly motivated
and well practised in the skills being used at that point.
Fatigue
Fatigue can be either physiological or subjective. Physiological fatigue reflects
the body’s need for replenishment and restoration. It is tied in with factors
such as recent physical activity, current health, consumption of alcohol, and
with circadian rhythms. It can only be satisfied by rest and eventually, a
period of sleep. Subjective fatigue is an individual’s perception of how sleepy
they feel. This is not only affected by when they last slept and how good the
sleep was but other factors, such as degree of motivation.

Fatigue is typically caused by delayed sleep, sleep loss, desynchronisation of

normal circadian rhythms and concentrated periods of physical or mental
stress or exertion. In the workplace, working long hours, working during
normal sleep hours and working on rotating shift schedules all produce
fatigue to some extent.
Symptoms of fatigue (in no particular order) may include:

• diminished perception (vision, hearing, etc.) and a general

lack of awareness;
• diminished motor skills and slow reactions;
• problems with short-term memory;
• channelled concentration - fixation on a single possibly
unimportant issue, to the neglect of others and failing to
maintain an overview;
• being easily distracted by unimportant matters;
• poor judgement and decision making leading to increased
mistakes;
• abnormal moods - erratic changes in mood, depressed,
periodically elated and energetic;
• diminished standards of own work.

AWN47 highlights the potential for fatigue in aircraft

maintenance engineering: “Tiredness and fatigue can
adversely affect performance. Excessive hours of duty
and shift working, particularly with multiple shift
periods or additional overtime, can lead to problems.
Individuals should be fully aware of the dangers of
impaired performance due to these factors and of their
personal responsibilities.”
 Shift Work
Most aircraft movements occur between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. to fit
in with the requirements of passengers. Aircraft maintenance
engineers are required whenever aircraft are on the ground, such
as during turn arounds. However, this scheduling means that
aircraft are often available for more significant maintenance during
the night. Thus, aircraft maintenance engineering is clearly a 24
hour business and it is inevitable that, to fulfil commercial
obligations, aircraft maintenance engineers usually work shifts.
Some engineers permanently work the same shift, but the majority
cycle through different shifts. These typically comprise either an
‘early shift’, a ‘late shift’ and a ‘night shift’, or a ‘day shift’ and a
‘night shift’ depending on the maintenance organisation.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Shift
Work
There are pros and cons to working shifts. Some people welcome the
variety of working different times associated with regular shift work
patterns. Advantages may include more days off and avoiding peak traffic
times when travelling to work. The disadvantages of shift working are
mainly associated with:
• working ‘unsociable hours’, meaning that time available with friends,
family, etc. will be disrupted;
• working when human performance is known to be poorer (i.e. between
4 a.m and 6 a.m.);
• problems associated with general desynchronisation and disturbance of
the body’s various rhythms (principally sleeping patterns).
Working At Night
Shift work means that engineers will usually have to work at night, either
permanently or as part of a rolling shift pattern. As discussed earlier in this
chapter, this introduces the inherent possibility of increased human errors.
Working nights can also lead to problems sleeping during the day, due to the
interference of daylight and environmental noise. Blackout curtains and use of
ear plugs can help, as well as avoidance of caffeine before sleep.

In the B737 double engine oil loss incident, the error occurred during the
night shift. The accident investigation report commented that: “It is under
these circumstances that the fragility of the self monitoring system is most
exposed because the safety system can be jeopardised by poor judgement on
the part of one person and it is also the time at which people are most likely
to suffer impaired judgement”
Rolling Shift Patterns
When an engineer works rolling shifts and changes from one shift to
another (e.g. ‘day shift’ to ‘night shift’), the body's internal clock is not
immediately reset. It continues on its old wake-sleep cycle for several
days, even though it is no longer possible for the person to sleep when the
body thinks it is appropriate, and is only gradually resynchronised.
However, by this time, the engineer may have moved onto the next shift.
Generally, it is now accepted that shift rotation should be to later shifts
(i.e. early shift _ late shift _ night shift or day shift _ night shift) instead of
rotation towards earlier shifts (night shift _ late shift _ early shift).
Continuity of Tasks and Shift Handovers
Many maintenance tasks often span more than one shift, requiring
tasks to be passed from one shift to the next. The outgoing personnel
are at the end of anything up to a twelve hour shift and are
consequently tired and eager to go home. Therefore, shift handover is
potentially an area where human errors can occur. Whilst longer shifts
may result in greater fatigue, the disadvantages may be offset by the
fact that fewer shift changeovers are required (i.e. only 2 handovers
with 2 twelve hour shifts, as opposed to 3 handovers with 3 eight hour
shifts).
Sleep, Fatigue, Shift Work and the Aircraft
Maintenance Engineer
Most individuals need approximately 8 hours sleep in a 24 hour period,
although this varies between individuals, some needing more and some
happy with less than this to be fully refreshed. They can usually
perform adequately with less that this for a few days, building up a
temporary sleep ‘deficit’. However, any sleep deficit will need to be
made up, otherwise performance will start to suffer. A good rule of
thumb is that one hour of high-quality sleep is good for two hours of
activity.
As previously noted, fatigue is best tackled by ensuring
adequate rest and good quality sleep are obtained. The use
of blackout curtains if having to sleep during daylight has
already been mentioned. It is also best not to eat a large
meal shortly before trying to sleep, but on the other hand,
the engineer should avoid going to bed hungry. As fatigue is
also influenced by illness, alcohol, etc., it is very important
to get more sleep if feeling a little unwell and drink only in
moderation between duties (discussed further in the next
section). Taking over-the-counter drugs to help sleep should
only be used as a last resort.
When rotating shifts are worked, it is important that the engineer is
disciplined with his eating and sleeping times. Moreover, out of work
activities have to be carefully planned. For example, it is obvious that
an individual who has been out night-clubbing until the early hours of
the morning will not be adequately rested if rostered on an early shift.

Shift working patterns encountered by aircraft maintenance engineers

may include three or four days off after the last night shift. It can be
tempting to work additional hours, taking voluntary overtime, or
another job, in one or more of these days off. This is especially the case
when first starting a career in aircraft maintenance engineering when
financial pressures may be higher. Engineers should be aware that their
vulnerability to error is likely to be increased if they are tired or
fatigued, and they should try to ensure that any extra hours worked are
kept within reason.
It is always sensible to monitor ones performance,
especially when working additional hours.
Performance decrements can be gradual, and first
signs of chronic fatigue may be moodiness,
headaches or finding that familiar tasks (such as
programming the video recorder) seem more
complicated than usual.

Finally, it is worth noting that, although most

engineers adapt to shift working, it becomes harder
to work rotating shifts as one gets older
 Alcohol, Medication and Drug Abuse
It should come as no surprise to the aircraft maintenance engineer that his
performance will be affected by alcohol, medication or illicit drugs. Under both UK and
JAA legislation it is an offence for safety critical personnel to carry out their duties
whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Article 13 (paragraph 8) of the UK ANO,
states:
“The holder of an aircraft maintenance engineer’s licence shall not, when exercising the
privileges of such a licence, be under the influence of drink or a drug to such an extent
as to impair his capacity to exercise such privileges.”

The current law which does not prescribe a blood/alcohol limit, is soon to change.
There will be new legislation permitting police to test for drink or drugs where there is
reasonable cause, and the introduction of a blood/alcohol limit of 20 milligrams of
alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood for anyone performing a safety critical role in UK civil
aviation (which includes aircraft maintenance engineers).
 Alcohol
Alcohol acts as a depressant on the central nervous system, dulling the
senses and increasing mental and physical reaction times. It is known that
even a small amount of alcohol leads to a decline in an individual’s
performance and may cause his judgement (i.e. ability to gauge his
performance) to be hindered.
Alcohol is removed from the blood at a fixed rate and this cannot be
speeded up in any way (e.g. by drinking strong coffee). In fact, sleeping after
drinking alcohol can slow down the removal process, as the body’s
metabolic systems are slower.
AWN47 provides the following advice concerning alcohol:
“Alcohol has similar effects to tranquillisers and sleeping tablets
and may remain circulating in the blood for a considerable time,
especially if taken with food. It may be borne in mind that a person
may not be fit to go on duty even 8 hours after drinking large
amounts of alcohol. Individuals should therefore anticipate such
effects upon their next duty period. Special note should be taken of
the fact that combinations of alcohol and sleeping tablets, or anti-
histamines, can form a highly dangerous and even lethal
combination.”

As a general rule, aircraft maintenance engineers should not work

for at least eight hours after drinking even small quantities of
alcohol and increase this time if more has been drunk. The affects
of alcohol can be made considerably worse if the individual is
fatigued, ill or using medication.
Medication

Any medication, no matter how common, can possibly have direct effects or
side effects that may impair an engineer’s performance in the workplace.

Medication can be regarded as any over-the-counter or prescribed drug used

for therapeutic purposes.

There is a risk that these effects can be amplified if an individual has a

particular sensitivity to the medication or one of its ingredients. Hence, an
aircraft maintenance engineer should be particularly careful when taking a
medicine for the first time, and should ask his doctor whether any prescribed
drug will affect his work performance. It is also wise with any medication to
take the first dose at least 24 hours before any duty to ensure that it does not
have any adverse effects.
Medication is usually taken to relieve symptoms of an
illness. Even if the drugs taken do not affect the engineer’s
performance, he should still ask himself whether the illness
has made him temporarily unfit for work.

Various publications, and especially AWN47 give advice

relevant to the aircraft maintenance engineer on some of the
more common medications. This information is
summarised below, however the engineer must use this
with caution and should seek further clarification from a
pharmacist, doctor or their company occupational health
advisor if at all unsure of the impact on work performance.
• Analgesics are used for pain relief and to counter
the symptoms of colds and ‘flu. In the UK,
paracetamol, aspirin and ibuprofen are the most
common, and are generally considered safe if used
as directed. They can be taken alone but are often
used as an ingredient of a ‘cold relief’ medicine. It
is always worth bearing in mind that the pain or
discomfort that you are attempting to treat with an
analgesic (e.g. headache, sore throat, etc.) may be
the symptom of some underlying illness that needs
proper medical attention.
• Antibiotics (such as Penicillin and the
various mycins and cyclines) may have short
term or delayed effects which affect work
performance. Their use indicates that a fairly
severe infection may well be present and
apart from the effects of these substances
themselves, the side-effects of the infection
will almost always render an individual unfit
for work.
• Anti-histamines are used widely in ‘cold cures’
and in the treatment of allergies (e.g. hayfever).
Most of this group of medicines tend to make the
user feel drowsy, meaning that the use of medicines
containing anti-histamines is likely to be
unacceptable when working as an aircraft
maintenance engineer.
• Cough suppressants are generally safe in normal
use, but if an over-the-counter product contains
anti-histamine, decongestant, etc., the engineer
should exercise caution about its use when working.
• Decongestants (i.e. treatments for nasal
congestion) may contain chemicals such as
pseudo-ephedrine hydrochloride (e.g. ‘Sudafed’)
and phenylphrine. Sideeffects reported, are
anxiety, tremor, rapid pulse and headache.
AWN47 forbid the use of medications
containing this ingredient to aircraft
maintenance engineers when working, as the
effects compromise skilled performance.
• ‘Pep’ pills are used to maintain wakefulness. They often
contain caffeine, dexedrine or benzedrine. Their use is
often habit forming. Over-dosage may cause headaches,
dizziness and mental disturbances. AWN47 states that
“the use of ‘pep’ pills whilst working cannot be
permitted. If coffee is insufficient, you are not fit for
work.”

• Sleeping tablets (often anti-histamine based) tend to

slow reaction times and generally dull the senses. The
duration of effect is variable from person to person.
Individuals should obtain expert medical advice before
taking them.
Melatonin (a natural hormone) deserves a special
mention. Although not available without a prescription in
the UK, it is classed as a food supplement in the USA (and
is readily available in health food shops). It has been
claimed to be effective as a sleep aid, and to help promote
the resynchronisation of disturbed circadian rhythms. Its
effectiveness and safety are still yet to be proven and
current best advice is to avoid this product.

If the aircraft maintenance engineer has any doubts about

the suitability of working whilst taking medication, he
must seek appropriate professional advice.
Drugs
Illicit drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine and heroin all affect the central
nervous system and impair mental function. They are known to have
significant effects upon performance and have no place within the
aviation maintenance environment. Of course, their possession and use
are also illegal in the UK.

Smoking cannabis can subtly impair performance for up to 24 hours. In

particular, it affects the ability to concentrate, retain information and
make reasoned judgements, especially on difficult tasks.
 CHAPTER - 5
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The aircraft maintenance engineer can expect to work in a variety of

different environments, from ‘line’ (generally outside the hangar) to
‘base’ (usually inside a hangar or workshop), in all types of weather and
climatic conditions, day and night. This depends largely on the company
he works for, and the function he fulfils in the company. Both physical
environments have their own specific features or factors that may
impinge on human performance. This chapter considers the impact of
noise, fumes, illumination, climate and temperature, motion and
vibration, as well as the requirement to work in confined spaces and
issues associated with the general working environment.
Noise
The impact of noise on human performance has already been discussed in Chapter 2,
Section 3 when examining ‘hearing’. To recap, noise in the workplace can have both
short-term and long-term negative effects: it can be annoying, can interfere with
verbal communication and mask warnings, and it can damage workers’ hearing
(either temporarily or permanently). It was noted that the ear is sensitive to sounds
between certain frequencies (20 HZ to 20 KHz) and that intensity of sound is
measured in decibels (dB), where exposure in excess of 115 dB without ear
protection even for a short duration is not recommended. This equates to standing
within a few hundred metres of a moving jet aircraft.
Noise can be thought of as any unwanted sound, especially if it is loud, unpleasant
and annoying.
General background noise can be ‘filtered out’ by the brain through focused
attention. Otherwise, for more problematic noise, some form of hearing protection
(e.g. ear plugs and ear muffs) is commonly used by aircraft maintenance engineers,
both on the line and in the hangar, to help the engineer to concentrate.
The noise environment in which the aircraft maintenance
engineer works can vary considerably. For instance, the airport
ramp or apron area is clearly noisy, due to running aircraft
engines or auxiliary power units (APUs), moving vehicles and
so on. It is not unusual for this to exceed 85 dB - 90 dB which
can cause hearing damage if the time of exposure is prolonged.
The hangar area can also be noisy, usually due to the use of
various tools during aircraft maintenance. Short periods of
intense noise are not uncommon here and can cause temporary
hearing loss. Engineers may move to and from these noisy
areas into the relative quiet of rest rooms, aircraft cabins,
stores and offices.
It is very important that aircraft maintenance engineers remain aware
of the extent of the noise around them. It is likely that some form of
hearing protection should be carried with them at all times and, as a
rule of thumb, used when remaining in an area where normal speech
cannot be heard clearly at 2 metres.

In their day-to-day work, aircraft maintenance engineers will often

need to discuss matters relating to a task with colleagues and also, at
the end of a shift, handover to an incoming engineer. Clearly, in both
cases it is important that noise does not impair their ability to
communicate, as this could obviously have a bearing on the
successful completion of the task (i.e. safety). Common sense
dictates that important matters are discussed away from noisy areas.
Fumes

By its nature, the maintenance of aircraft involves working with a

variety of fluids and chemical substances. For instance, engineers
may come across various lubricants (oils and greases), hydraulic
fluids, paints, cleaning compounds and solder. They will also be
exposed to aircraft fuel and exhaust. In fact, there is every
possibility that an engineer could be exposed to a number of these
at any one time in the workplace. Each substance gives off some
form of vapour or fumes which can be inhaled by the aircraft
maintenance engineer. Some fumes will be obvious as a result of
their odour, whereas others have no smell to indicate their
presence. Some substances will be benign most of the time, but
may, in certain circumstances, produce fumes (e.g. overheated
grease or oils, smouldering insulation).
Fumes can cause problems for engineers mainly as a result of
inhalation, but they can also cause other problems, such as eye
irritation. The problem may be exacerbated in aircraft
maintenance engineering by the confined spaces in which
work must sometimes be carried out (e.g. fuel tanks). Here the
fumes cannot dissipate easily and it may be appropriate to use
breathing apparatus. It may not always be practical to eradicate
fumes from the aircraft maintenance engineer’s work place,
but where possible, steps should be taken to minimise them. It
is also common sense that if noxious fumes are detected, an
engineer should immediately inform his colleagues and
supervisor so that the area can be evacuated and suitable steps
taken to investigate the source and remove them.
Apart from noxious fumes that have serious
health implications and must be avoided,
working in the presence of fumes can affect
an engineer’s performance, as he may rush a
job in order to escape them. If the fumes are
likely to have this effect, the engineer should
increase the ventilation locally or use
breathing apparatus to dissipate the fumes.
Illumination

In order that aircraft maintenance engineers are able to

carry out their work safely and efficiently, it is imperative
that their work be conducted under proper lighting
conditions. The cones in the retina of the eye require good
light to resolve fine detail. Furthermore, colour vision
requires adequate light to stimulate the cones. Inappropriate
or insufficient lighting can lead to mistakes in work tasks or
can increase the time required to do the work.
Illumination refers to the lighting both within the general working environment
and also in the locality of the engineer and the task he is carrying out. It can be
defined as the amount of light striking a surface.

When working outside during daylight, the engineer may have sufficient natural
light to see well by. It is possible however that he may be in shadow (possibly
caused by the aircraft) or a building. Similarly, cramped equipment
compartments will not be illuminated by ambient hangar lighting. In these cases,
additional local artificial lighting is usually required (known as task lighting). At
night, aerodromes may appear to be awash with floodlights and other
aerodrome lighting, but these are unlikely to provide sufficient illumination for
an engineer to be able to see what he is doing when working on an aircraft.
These lights are not designed and placed for this purpose. Again, additional local
artificial lighting is needed, which may be nothing more than a good torch (i.e.
one which does not have a dark area in the centre of the beam). However, the
drawback of a torch, is that it leaves the engineer with only one hand available
with which to work. A light mounted on a headband gets round this problem.
A torch can be very useful to the engineer, but Murphy’s Law
dictates that the torch batteries will run down when the engineer is
across the airfield from the stores. It is much wiser to carry a spare
set of batteries than ‘take a chance’ by attempting a job without
enough light.

Within the hangar, general area lighting tends to be some distance

from the aircraft on which an engineer might work, as it is usually
attached to the very high ceiling of these buildings. This makes
these lights hard to reach, meaning that they tend to get dusty,
making them less effective and, in addition, failed bulbs tend not to
be replaced as soon as they go out. In general, area lighting in
hangars is unlikely to be as bright as natural daylight and, as a
consequence, local task lighting is often needed, especially for
work of a precise nature (particularly visual inspection tasks).
An extract from the NTSB report on the Northwest Airlines accident at Tokyo, 1994,
illustrates these points:

“The Safety Board believes that the "OK to Close" inspector was hindered
considerably by the environment of the pylon area. He indicated, for example, that the
combination of location of the scaffolding (at a level just below the underside of the
wing that forced him into unusual and uncomfortable physical positions) and
inadequate lighting from the base of the scaffolding up toward the pylon, hampered
his inspection efforts. Moreover, the underside of the pylon was illuminated by
portable fluorescent lights that had been placed along the floor of the scaffolding.
These lights had previously been used in areas where airplanes were painted, and, as a
result, had been covered with the residue of numerous paint applications that
diminished their brightness. These factors combined to cause the inspector to view the
fuse pin retainers by holding onto the airplane structure with one hand, leaning under
the bat wing doors at an angle of at least 30°, holding a flashlight with the other hand
pointing to the area, and moving his head awkwardly to face up into the pylon area.”
It is also important that illumination is available where the engineer
needs it (i.e. both in the hangar and one the line). Any supplemental
task lighting must be adequate in terms of its brightness for the task
at hand, which is best judged by the engineer. When using task
lighting, it should be placed close to the work being done, but
should not be in the engineer’s line of sight as this will result in
direct glare. It must also be arranged so that it does not reflect off
surfaces near where the engineer is working causing indirect or
reflected glare. Glare of either kind will be a distraction from the
task and may cause mistakes.

Poor ambient illumination of work areas has been identified as a

significant deficiency during the investigation of certain
engineering incidents. It is equally important that lighting in
ancillary areas, such as offices and stores, is good.
The AAIB report for the BAC 1-11 accident says of the
unmanned stores area: “The ambient illumination in this area
was poor and the Shift Maintenance Manager had to interpose
himself between the carousel and the light source to gain
access to the relevant carousel drawers. He did not use the
drawer labels, even though he now knew the part number of
the removed bolt, but identified what he thought were identical
bolts by placing the bolts together and comparing them.” He
also failed to make use of his spectacles.

Relying on touch when lighting is poor is no substitute for

actually being able to see what you are doing. If necessary,
tools such as mirrors and borescopes may be needed to help
the engineer see into remote areas.
Climate and Temperature

Humans can work within quite a wide range of temperatures and

climatic conditions, but performance is adversely affected at extremes
of these. Thus, as can be seen in Figure 19, when it is either too cold
and/or wet or too hot and/or humid, performance diminishes.

As has been noted throughout this document, aircraft maintenance

engineers routinely work both within the hangar and outside. Clearly,
exposure to the widest range of temperature and climate is likely to be
encountered outdoors. Here, an engineer may have to work in direct
summer sun, strong winds, heavy rain, high humidity, or in the depths
of winter. Although hangars must exclude inclement weather, they can
be cold and draughty, especially if the hangar doors have to remain
open.
JAR AMC 145.25 (c)1 states: “Hangars used to
house aircraft together with office
accommodation should be such as to ensure the
working environment permits personnel to
carry out work tasks in an effective manner.
Temperatures should be maintained such that
personnel can carry out required tasks without
undue discomfort.”
Engineers cannot be expected to maintain the rigorous standards expected in their
profession in all environmental conditions. JAR 145 Acceptable Means of
Compliance (AMC) 145.25(c) requires that environmental conditions be adequate
for work to be carried out, stating:

“The working environment for line maintenance should be such that the particular
maintenance or inspection task can be carried out without undue distraction. It
therefore follows that where the working environment deteriorates to an
unacceptable level in respect of temperature, moisture, hail, ice, snow, wind, light,
dust/other airborne contamination, the particular maintenance or inspection tasks
should be suspended until satisfactory conditions are re-established”

Unfortunately, in reality, pressure to turn aircraft round rapidly means that some
maintenance tasks are not put off until the conditions are more conducive to work.

There was an instance in Scotland, where work on an aircraft was only suspended
when it became so cold that the lubricants being used actually froze.
Environmental conditions can affect physical performance. For
example, cold conditions make numb fingers, reducing the
engineer’s ability to carry out fiddly repairs, and working in strong
winds can be distracting, especially if having to work at height (e.g.
on staging). Extreme environmental conditions may also be
fatiguing, both physically and mentally.

There are no simple solutions to the effects of temperature and

climate on the engineer. For example, an aircraft being turned
around on the apron cannot usually be moved into the hangar so that
the engineer avoids the worst of the weather. In the cold, gloves can
be worn, but obviously the gloves themselves may interfere with
fine motor skills. In the direct heat of the sun or driving rain, it is
usually impossible to set up a temporary shelter when working
outside.
Motion and Vibration

Aircraft maintenance engineers often make use of staging and

mobile access platforms to reach various parts of an aircraft. As
these get higher, they tend to become less stable. For example
when working at height on a scissors platform or ‘cherry picker’,
applying force to a bolt being fixed to the aircraft may cause the
platform to move away from the aircraft. The extent to which this
occurs does not just depend on the height of the platform, but its
design and serviceability. Any sensation of unsteadiness may
distract an engineer, as he may concentrate more on keeping his
balance than the task. Furthermore, it is vitally important that
engineers use mobile access platforms properly in order to avoid
serious injury.
Vibration in aircraft maintenance engineering is usually associated
with the use of rotating or percussive tools and ancillary
equipment, such as generators. Low frequency noise, such as that
associated with aircraft engines, can also cause vibration. Vibration
between 0.5 Hz to 20 Hz is most problematic, as the human body
absorbs most of the vibratory energy in this range. The range
between 50- 150 Hz is most troublesome for the hand and is
associated with Vibratory induced White Finger Syndrome (VWF).
Pneumatic tools can produce troublesome vibrations in this range
and frequent use can lead to reduced local blood flow and pain
associated with VWF. Vibration can be annoying, possibly
disrupting an engineer’s concentration.
Confined Spaces
Previous topics highlighted the possibility of claustrophobia being a
problem in aircraft maintenance engineering. Working in any confined
space, especially with limited means of entry or exit (e.g. fuel tanks)
needs to be managed carefully. As noted previously, engineers should
ideally work with a colleague who would assist their ingress into and
egress out of the confined space. Good illumination and ventilation
within the confined space will reduce any feelings of discomfort. In
addition, appropriate safety equipment, such as breathing apparatus or
lines must be used when required.
Working Environment
Various factors that impinge upon the engineer’s physical working
environment have been highlighted in this chapter. Apart from those
already discussed, other physical influences include: • workplace layout
and the cleanliness and general tidiness of the workplace (e.g. storage
facilities for tools, manuals and information, a means of checking that all
tools have been retrieved from the aircraft, etc.); • the proper provision
and use of safety equipment and signage (such as non-slip surfaces,
safety harnesses, etc.);
• the storage and use of toxic chemical and fluids (as distinct from
fumes) (e.g. avoiding confusion between similar looking canisters and
containers by clear labelling or storage in different locations, etc.).