Air Traffic Management

Three years ago, Eurocontrol set to develop training material to sensiblise air traffic controllers on the risks that can occure during position handovers and to provide suggestions and tools to minimise these risks.

In preparation for the development of this training material, a research study was conducted to identify the factors affecting handovers and takeovers. The document referred to here reports the findings of this research. It includes the following sections:

• A literature review including reports on the study performed by the National Air Traffic Services Ltd. UK (NATS) on handovers and the establishment of best practices based on this study;
• Interviews of Safety Experts which summarises the interviews on handover-related safety hazards conducted with the safety managers of two Air Navigation Services Providers (ANSPs);
• Training Material Review, the existing pedagogic material relative to position handovers in Europe is reviewed and analysed (prior to the Web-based training on factors dealing with handover/takeover produced by EUROCONTROL in 2006);
• Identification of the Main Handover-related Safety Issues’, provides, based on the information collected during the study, a preliminary list of the main handover-related safety issues that should be addressed to improve handover processes and
• Key findings of this preliminary study on handover

It also contains  a number of checklists whcih were in use in different European ANSPs

It can be found here

Enjoy the read.

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The human is a key part of the ATM system, right?  So if a piece of this system is changed or a new piece added [or an old piece taken out for all that matters!] the human may be affected.

The HF Case is a process which when used within projects aimed at conceiving, designing and or implementing significantly assists in the identification of issues that will likely effect the human and likewise proposes ways of finding means to deal with these issues, by either preventing or by curing.

Would you like to know more? Why not start with the e-learning module which has just been developed? [I participated in this project...]  It is clear and concise and takes the student through an interactive and concise journey [25 mins] of discovery of the HF Case phases and the tools and models used.

The training module is for free…If you’re interested, click on the image:

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HF Case Module [click to start module

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That fatigue is a serious risk to safety, is something quite well known.  However so far we have limited ourselves to simply state this and get our ATCOs and Student ATCOs to recognise fatigue and to know about its possible effects.

Now, following an incident investigation the FAA [as reported by Mary Kirby in Controller fatigue, training are focus of NTSB safety recommendations (10Apr07 22:28 GMT) Philadelphia ] are recommending to:

“Develop fatigue awareness and countermeasures training program for controllers and for personnel who are involved in the scheduling of controllers for operational duty that will address the incidence of fatigue in the controller workforce, causes of fatigue, effects of fatigue on controller performance and safety, and the importance of using personal strategies to minimize fatigue. This training should be provided in a format that promotes retention, and recurrent training should be provided at regular intervals. ”

I cannot but support this recommendation.Â

Firstly, it is not enough to talk about it.Â

What is important is to provide practical ideas, tips and strategies to prevent fatigue from setting in and then to minimise its effects.  This training should go into providing ideas of how ATCOs, and other shift workers, should manage their time at and outside work, especially between duties.

Secondly, it is not enough to address the ATCOs

Most of the time operational staff are aware of the problems, but their schedulers are not necessarily appreciative.  It is hard to promote a healthy lifestyle with enough quality rest, and then schedule staff to work to the max at reduced [or just on the limit] intervals.

Also, personnel management needs to be sensibilised and responsibilised on this problem by receiving adequate awareness and training, as informed schedulers can still very easily flex to pressure from above!

Thirdly, the report adds that the method of delivery needs to promote retention and refresher training should be given at regular intervals.

It is not enough to tell a student at the beginning of their career, when they do not know well what it means to work in shift and to ‘wear out’.  Also resting needs change as the person grows older.  So training needs to contain theory and practice and also needs to adapt to the demographics – young, middle age, older, single, married, with young children, etc.  Each category having its own pressures and needs.

Does this topic interest you?  How about developing the objectives and the method of delivery of this training together?

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