Human Factors 5.3

 Human Factors 5.3 

September 5th 2022

    Human factors as defined by the FAA is a "multidisciplinary effort to generate and compile information about human capabilities and limitations and apply that information to equipment, systems, facilities, procedures, jobs, environments, training, staffing, and personnel management for safe, comfortable, and effective human performance” (FAA Order 9550.8A). This means making sure all human based systems are performing at a high level with little or no error. Humans are inherently wrong, we are not all perfect, and that's why we have a system of checks and balances within aviation. The FAA has listed out 12 human factors that are attributed to maintenance related incidents/accidents.

    I have been in aviation maintenance for 10 years now and have seen my fair share of screw ups in the work place. A few human factors that I see more often that gets people in trouble and or cause a maintenance mishap is complacency and pressure. I have been guilty of getting complacent before and luckily was able to snap myself out of it when I realised I started to mess up the easy jobs simply because I did not put my full attention into the task I was doing. In maintenance we have a system in place that require people to double check someone else's work before they can move onto the next step. These systems are put into place because they are critical areas and require two sets of eyes to verify the work was done properly. Aircraft are huge complex machine with thousands of moving parts and not one human knows how every single components works perfectly. So it is vital to have these checks so nothing is overlooked. Aircraft have redundant systems to keep them flying and it is no different in maintenance.

References 

https://www.hf.faa.gov/media/RoleOfHF-FAA.pdf

https://www.aircraftsystemstech.com/2017/07/aviation-human-factors-dirty-dozen.html