FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-11/19

Title and Subtitle: Fatigue Solutions for Maintenance: From Science to Workplace Reality

Report Date: December 2011

Authors: Avers KB, Johnson WB, Banks JO, Nei D, Hensley E

Abstract: Thirty delegates, mostly from the FAA's Aviation Safety (AVS) business unit, but also from U.S. industry and Transport Canada, assembled for a two-day workshop in Oklahoma City, OK. The workshop format combined key presentation topics, each followed by structured discussion.

Following the discussion, the delegates generated a rank-order listing of the most important actions needed to reduce maintenance fatigue risk. Section 2.0 of this report elaborates on the top ten actions identified:

1. Enhance Employer and Worker Fatigue Awareness
2. Continue and Expand Fatigue Countermeasure Education
3. Support and Regulate Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS)
4. Quantify Safety and Operational Efficiency Impact of Fatigue
5. Regulate Hours of Service Limits
6. Establish Baseline Data of Fatigue Risk with Existing Event-Reporting Systems
7. Integrate Fatigue Awareness Into Safety Culture
8. Ensure That FRMS is Considered in Safety Management Systems (SMS) Program
9. Create and Implement Fatigue Assessment Tools
10. Improve Collaboration of FRMS Within and Across Organizations

The workshop delegates felt that the FAA is addressing many of these challenges, but there is substantial opportunity to increase attention to each topic. Their consensus was to address the challenges not only with research and development but also with operational activity and possible future regulation.

Key Words: Aviation Maintenance, Fatigue, Human Factors, Research, Safety Culture

No. of Pages: 21