...Sleep Deprivation in the Cockpit Abstract Sleep deprivation has been noted as the primary factor of numerous accidents and near mid-air crashes in the aviation industry for centuries. Pilot’s tend to experience sleep deprivation more frequently than the average human being does, this is due to the long hours of international flights or because of coast to coast type flights. Therefore, establishing an understanding of how sleep deprivation influences a pilot’s performance in the cockpit or an air traffic controller’s judgment is crucial in order to counter fatigue or to develop a strategy to eliminate sleep deprivation all together. The goal of this study will help examine the cause of sleep deprivation as well as focus on techniques that will decrease the chances of sleep deprivation in the cockpit. Sleep deprivation is a common particular occurrence in the aviation community for a variety of reasons. Long-haul flight operations often involve rapid multiple time-zone changes, sleep disturbances, circadian disruptions, and long irregular work schedules. These factors can result in fatigue, cumulative sleep loss, decreases alertness, and decreased performance in long-haul flight crews. Therefore causing operational effectiveness and safety maybe compromised because of pilot and crew fatigue (Crew Factors in Flight Ops). According to the National Transportation Safety...
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...controller workforce consists of approximately 15,000 dedicated and well-trained men and women working in air traffic control towers, terminal radar approach control centers, and en route control centers managing 30.2 million square miles of airspace (Federal Aviation Administration, 2013).” FATIGUE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP The human body heavily relies on sleep to maintain a healthy, functioning life. . “Sleep isn’t exactly a time when your body and brain shut off, actually, while you rest, your brain stays busy, overseeing a wide variety of biological maintenance that keeps your body running in top condition, preparing you for the day ahead (Help Guide, 2013).” FATIGUE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP CONT’D Sleep Deprivation side effects include Fatigue, lethargy, and lack of motivation Moodiness and irritability Reduced creativity and problem-solving skills Inability to cope with stress Reduced immunity; frequent colds and infections Concentration and memory problems Weight gain Impaired motor skills and increased risk of accidents Difficulty making decisions Increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems FATIGUE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP CONT’D The incident of an air traffic controller falling asleep while on the job in the tower of Reagan National Airport led to the investigation of human fatigue negatively impacting the performance of air traffic controllers everywhere. “We...
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...Effects of Sleep Deprivation in Aviation All living beings possess a built-in, biological alarm clock. This clock is responsible for innumerable bodily functions that are performed during various stages of a day/week/month/year. Examples include bowel movement, digestion, hormone production, menstrual cycle and migration (among birds/animals), to name a few. All these functions follow a particular cyclical pattern. When this process recurs annually, it is known as a circannual rhythm. Similarly, when this process recurs on a daily basis, it is known as a circadian rhythm. The word circadian comes from the Latin words ‘circa diem’, meaning about a day. Circadian rhythms are controlled by a biological clock within our brain. This section of brain is called the 'suprachiasmatic nucleus' (SCN). Signals produced by the SCN travel to different sections of the brain, thus stimulating various functions, such as body temperature, hormone secretion, changes in blood pressure, etc. There are numerous external factors as well, that regulate a circadian rhythm among human beings. These external factors are called zeitgebers (Hawkins & Orlady, 1993). Most common zeitgebers are light and temperature. Others include meal times, various social and physical activities. The most common circadian rhythm known to mankind is the sleep cycle. Sleep is an extremely important physiological phenomenon, during which our body heals and recuperates. Let us begin with understanding what sleep...
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...(2007) 274 – 284 Altered sleep–wake cycles and physical performance in athletes Thomas Reilly ⁎, Ben Edwards Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Henry Cotton Campus, 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool, L3 2ET, United Kingdom Received 14 August 2006; accepted 4 September 2006 Abstract Sleep–waking cycles are fundamental in human circadian rhythms and their disruption can have consequences for behaviour and performance. Such disturbances occur due to domestic or occupational schedules that do not permit normal sleep quotas, rapid travel across multiple meridians and extreme athletic and recreational endeavours where sleep is restricted or totally deprived. There are methodological issues in quantifying the physiological and performance consequences of alterations in the sleep–wake cycle if the effects on circadian rhythms are to be separated from the fatigue process. Individual requirements for sleep show large variations but chronic reduction in sleep can lead to immuno-suppression. There are still unanswered questions about the sleep needs of athletes, the role of ‘power naps’ and the potential for exercise in improving the quality of sleep. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Circadian rhythm; Exercise; Jet-lag; Shift-work 1. Introduction The sleep–wakefulness cycle is the most discernable of human circadian functions, activity being associated with the hours of daylight and sleep with the hours of darkness...
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...Delegates resolved to disseminate recent research findings on the relationship between work hours, fatigue and errors. Dr. Ann Rogers presented the results of her study “The Working Hours of Hospital Staff Nurses and Patient Safety” published in Health Affairs, July/August 2004. Her study followed 393 registered nurses working over 5,317 shifts. Each nurse tracked hours worked, time of day worked, overtime, days off, sleep/wake patterns, errors and near misses. According to Dr. Rogers, fatigue results in: * Forgetfulness * Slowed reaction time * Diminished decision making * Reduced vigilance * Apathy, lethargy * Impaired communication. Delivery of health care requires higher cognitive functions – judgment, logic, complex decision-making, memory, vigilance, information management and communication skills. Fatigued workers try ineffective solutions to problems and neglect activities deemed non-essential. Sleep research indicates that most people need at 7.5-8 hour of sleep each night. Nurses in the study averaged 6.8 hours of sleep. Long hours, and the impact of competing priorities in personal lives impact getting adequate rest prior to working. In more than half the shifts, nurses were unable to take breaks due to shift demands. Findings included correlation among work duration, overtime, number of hours worked and reported errors and near errors. Regardless of the scheduled shift length, overtime increased the odds of reporting error,...
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...Federal Aviation Authority Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5020-1 Noise Control and Compatibility Planning Eric v. Walker Embry Riddle Aeronautical University ASCI-617 Airport Safety and Certification 01 October, 2012 ABSTRACT This paper attempts to summarize key points such as the purpose, intent, and contents of the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) Advisory Circular 150/5020-1 on Noise Control and Compatibility planning for Airports. The effect of noise on communities around the United States and has been a well-publicized concern of both airport managers and legislatures from both local and national levels. The federal government has been addressing the issue from as early as the 1920’s, but demand for change in the effects of airport and airplane related noise truly came to the forefront with the growth of use in jet engine driven aircraft and vast increases in air travel across the country. Today, the primary objective is to create a cooperative environment where airports, communities, professionals, and legislatures work as a team in utilizing the available mitigating options to ensure noise is much less of an irritant and well-managed in relation to land use in and around airports. Advisory Circular (Ac) 150/5020-1 Noise Control and Compatibility Planning Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150 is the governing document provided to establish and sustaining guidelines to be used by airports in planning for expansion and development. The FAR Part 150...
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...HYPOXIA Hypoxia results when the body lacks oxygen. Hypoxia tends to be associated with flights at altitudes. However, many other factors such as alcohol abuse, heavy smoking, & various medications interfere with the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. INDIVIDUALS PHYSIOLOGICAL ALTITUDE. Drugs. Many medications have an unexpected effect when combined with high altitudes. Never self-medicate, even w/ over the counter drugs. Alcohol. 1 ounce of alcohol can give the body a physiological altitude up to 2000’. Smoking. The hemoglobin molecule of RBCs has a 200-300 times greater affinity for CO than for O2. Smoking 3 cigarettes in rapid succession or 20 to 30 cigarettes w/ in a 24 hr period gives a physiological altitude of 5000’ at sea level & a 20% reduction of night vision. CLASSIFICATIONS: Hypoxic. Occurs when not enough O2 is in the air or when decreasing atmospheric pressures prevent the diffusion of O2 from the lungs to the bloodstream. Typically, Occurs at higher altitudes. Hypemic. or anemic, hypoxia is caused by a reduction in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Anemia & blood loss are the most common causes. CO,nitrites, & sulfa drugs also cause this by forming compounds w/ hemoglobin & reducing the hemoglobin that is available to combine w/ O2. Stagnant. O2 carrying capacity of the blood is adequate, but circulation is inadequate. Conditions as heart failure, arterial spasm, & occlusion of a blood vessel predispose the individuals to stagnant hypoxia. More often...
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...of seafarer fatigue and its potential environmental cost is widely evident across the shipping industry. Maritime regulators, ship owners, trade unions are all alert to the fact that with certain ship types a combination of minimal manning, sequences of rapid port turnarounds, adverse weather conditions and high levels of traffic may find seafarers working long hours and with insufficient recovery rest. (Smith, Allen and Wadsworth, 2006). In these circumstances fatigue and reduced performance may lead to environmental damage, ill-health and reduced life-span among highly skilled seafarers who are in increasingly short supply. A long history of research into working hours and conditions in manufacturing as well as road transport and civil aviation industries has no parallel in commercial shipping. There are huge potential consequences of fatigue at sea in terms of both ship operations (accidents, collision risk, poorer performance, economic cost and environmental damage) and the individual seafarer (injury, poor health and well-being,). Not only has there been relatively little research on seafarers’ fatigue but what there has been has been largely focused on specific jobs (e.g. watch keeping), specific sectors (e.g. the short sea sector) and specific outcomes (e.g. accidents). This reflects general trends in fatigue research where the emphasis has often been on specific groups of workers (e.g. shift workers) and on safety rather than quality of working life (a crucial part of current...
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...ATSB TRANSPORT SAFETY REPORT Aviation Research and Analysis Report – AR-2008-055 An Overview of Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance Alan Hobbs Ph.D. December 2008 ATSB TRANSPORT SAFETY REPORT Aviation Research and Analysis Report AR-2008-055 Final An Overview of Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance Alan Hobbs Ph.D. - iii - Published by: Postal address: Office location: Telephone: Facsimile: E-mail: Internet: Australian Transport Safety Bureau PO Box 967, Civic Square ACT 2608 62 Northbourne Ave, Canberra City, Australian Capital Territory 1800 020 616; from overseas + 61 2 6274 6440 Accident and incident notification: 1800 011 034 (24 hours) 02 6247 3117; from overseas + 61 2 6247 3117 atsbinfo@atsb.gov.au www.atsb.gov.au © Commonwealth of Australia 2008. This work is copyright. In the interests of enhancing the value of the information contained in this publication you may copy, download, display, print, reproduce and distribute this material in unaltered form (retaining this notice). However, copyright in the material obtained from other agencies, private individuals or organisations, belongs to those agencies, individuals or organisations. Where you want to use their material you will need to contact them directly. Subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, you must not make any other use of the material in this publication unless you have the permission of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Please direct requests for further...
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...Understanding the World after 9-11 Even though we still have Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp there are those who feel that we should close it down and stop the torture for example degrading the person lack of sleep or lack of food and even though it was effective at times to get information out of prisoners by using such techniques though after September 11, 2001 and the media getting pictures of how we was treating these prisoners we had to change, some to the good others are not so good because a prisoner may tell you what you want to hear and it may not be the truth. Then there is still the public inquiring about the prisoners where would we have to transfer them? This scares those who live near a prison, many are terrorist so what should we do? Clean up and make Alcatraz Island also known as the Rock and put them there? From what we have learned that place is no better. Until there is peace throughout all the lands and countries there will and must be safeguards not just for us but for those who are suicide bombers and other terrorist. When someone threatened U.S. interests and safety, the government started thinking up ways to protect the citizens of our beautiful country. This is where the USA Patriot Act came from. The USA Patriot Act was signed into law by former President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001, just a little over a month after the attacks. It is an acronym that stands for, Uniting (and) Strengthening America (by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required...
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...2010 Report No. NM-10/2 Sleeping habits of marine engineers Thomas Forsman Department of Shipping and Marine Technology CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gothenburg, Sweden 2010 Sleeping habits of marine engineers Thomas Forsman Nordic Master in Maritime Management Chalmers University of Technology Summary There are done several studies and researches of marine personnel fatigue especially of deck officers. There is a demand and great interest to survey the sleeping habits of Swedish marine engineers. The aim of this Master Thesis is to find out if marine engineers get enough sleep. The purpose is also to find differences in sleeping patterns between technical chiefs and engineers. This Master Thesis is a part of a greater study, where the marine engineers answered a medical questionnaire and filled a diary. Test persons wore also a special watch that recorded their sleep and wake results. This Master Thesis and its results are based on the answers given in the medical questionnaire. Questionnaire was filled in on Swedish vessels operating in different maritime sectors. The results indicated that there were differences between engine personnel’s sleeping habits and especially in how they felt the fatigue. The results received from the medical questionna ire point out that there is a demand at some level for planning, execution and surveillance of marine engineers’ work task. To prevent fatigue in the engine room is current and desirable. The individual...
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...FOCUS Mission Success Safety Always - Mission Success Safety Always - Mission Success Safety Always - Mission Success Safety Always - Mission Success January 2012 FOCUS Republic of Singapore Air Force Safety Magazine Issue 70 The Dirty Dozen Inside: >> Stress >> Distraction >> Project Management and The Dirty Dozen >> Fokker-50 At Gulf of Aden Mission Success Safety Always - Mission Success Safety Always - Mission Success Safety Always - Mission Success Safety Always - Mission Success RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 70 | January 2012 2 CONTENTS FOCUS Issue 70 - January 2012 Front Cover Image: A showcase of the RSAF’s 12 safety posters on The Dirty Dozen. EDITORIAL BOARD Chairman COL Aw Kwee Siong Members LTC Danny Koh LTC Alex Cornelius ME6 Lee Lip Kee MAJ Peter Ho MAJ Macus Woo CPT Khoo Pak Syn CPT (DR) Jocelyn Ong Siyu Ms Audrey Siah 4 COPING WITH STRESS Production Crew Editor 20 Fokker-50 Aden At the Gulf of MAJ Mike Chua Kim Sai Assistant / Photographer 2WO Steven Goh Graphic / Layout Design 10 Distraction 2WO Steven Goh Printed By 99 Degree Communications LLP 2 Foreword FOCUS is published by Air Force Inspectorate, HQ RSAF, for accident prevention purpose. Use of information contained herein for purposes other than accident prevention, requires prior authorisation from AFI. The content of FOCUS are of an informative nature and should not be considered as directive or...
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...Asbestos and Asbestos Health Effects What is asbestos? Asbestos is the name given to a number of naturally occurring fibrous minerals with high tensile strength, the ability to be woven, and resistance to heat and most chemicals. Because of these properties, asbestos fibers have been used in a wide range of manufactured goods, including roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, paper and cement products, textiles, coatings, and friction products such as automobile clutch, brake and transmission parts. The current federal definition of asbestos is the asbestiform varieties of: chrysotile (serpentine); crocidolite (riebeckite); amosite (cummingtonite/grunerite); anthophyllite; tremolite; and actinolite. What are the health effects of asbestos exposure? Exposure to airborne friable asbestos may result in a potential health risk because persons breathing the air may breathe in asbestos fibers. Continued exposure can increase the amount of fibers that remain in the lung. Fibers embedded in lung tissue over time may cause serious lung diseases including: asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma. Smoking increases the risk of developing illness from asbestos exposure. Three of the major health effects associated with asbestos exposure include: • Asbestosis – Asbestosis is a serious, progressive, long-term non-cancer disease of the lungs. It is caused by inhaling asbestos fibers that irritate lung tissues and cause the tissues to scar. The scarring makes it hard for oxygen...
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... AE6200 – Individual Project (Aircraft IEng) 27 April 2014 SUMMARY For the year 2010 to 2012, ground operation incident involving aircraft has cost the United Kingdom (UK) aviation industry an estimate of US$ 20 Million. It is estimated that each incident involving traditional aircraft (mainly metallic structure) would cost the Aircraft Operation (AO) close to US$ 1 Million in expenditure and if the aircraft is assumed to be of high composite ratio, the cost of each incident increase by 50% to US$ 1.5 Million. Do note that this cost does not include damage to the facilities, equipment, or vehicles. Which mean the overall cost could be higher than the estimate. If damage were assumed in all ground operation incident report, the estimated cost would increase 3.5 times. And with high composite ratio aircraft becoming the norm, the cost could spiral upward in excess of more than 5 times. Thus, it is important these ground operation incidents are reduced. Ground operation incident, occurs primarily due to human errors. Possible common reasons include insufficient training, complacency and environmental factors. There are also no detailed legislations in place to regulate the industry, unlike Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) organisations, which is governed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of UK. Since human errors aren’t a new problem, many researches have been conducted in the past. There are systems developed to address the issue of human error. ...
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...http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9728.html We ship printed books within 1 business day; personal PDFs are available immediately. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System Linda T. Kohn, Janet M. Corrigan, and Molla S. Donaldson, Editors; Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, Institute of Medicine ISBN: 0-309-51563-7, 312 pages, 6 x 9, (2000) This PDF is available from the National Academies Press at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9728.html Visit the National Academies Press online, the authoritative source for all books from the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council: • Download hundreds of free books in PDF • Read thousands of books online for free • Explore our innovative research tools – try the “Research Dashboard” now! • Sign up to be notified when new books are published • Purchase printed books and selected PDF files Thank you for downloading this PDF. If you have comments, questions or just want more information about the books published by the National Academies Press, you may contact our customer service department tollfree at 888-624-8373, visit us online, or send an email to feedback@nap.edu. This book plus thousands more are available at http://www.nap.edu. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF File are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Distribution, posting, or copying...
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