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18 percent of survey respondents reported being involved in an operational error, deviation, or proximity event within the last year with 56 percent of those citing fatigue as a contributing factor. 78 percent of survey respondents identified shift work as the cause of their fatigue. An average score of 3.7 out of 5 was compiled for the survey respondents when asked if, "fatigue affects the ability of air traffic controllers to perform their job effectively." There was a correlation between a decline in alertness across work week and total sleep duration. The report suggests that the alertness decrement is "likely" due to the reduced total sleep (accumulated sleep debt).
NASA research team conducted a two-pronged approach to
obtain information from air traffic controllers; a
web-based survey of fatigue factors that was available
to the entire ATC workforce and a field study that
obtained objective measures of sleep, fatigue and
alertness in a sample of controllers from selected
facilities, including
Data consisted of 14 days of continuous sleep and
activity monitoring using wrist-worn actigraphs, daily
sleep and activity logs, a brief objective measure of
alertness, and subjective ratings of sleepiness and
workload. The 2010 sample was found to be significantly' more fatigued than the comparable sample of controllers in the 1999 survey (Della Rocco et al., 2000a). The current ATC personnel sample was significantly more fatigued on the Chronic Fatigue Scale than a normative comparison group of nurses and industrial shift workers (Barton et al., 1995). Overall 18% of current respondents reported that they had an operational event in the last year with 56% of those who had an operational event self-identifying fatigue as a contributor to the event. When asked if they had caught themselves "about to 'doze off" during work duties in the last year, 61% of all respondents and 70% of those with regularly scheduled midnight shifts replied "Yes." CPC respondents also indicated that "fatigue affects the ability of air traffic controllers to perform their job effectively" at an average of 3.7 on a 5 point scale - closer to "Frequently' than "Sometimes." Of all aspects of their jobs included in the survey, respondents were least satisfied with their schedules and felt that their schedules contributed most to their fatigue. Respondents from the current survey had a higher proportion of counter-clockwise rapidly rotating schedules, especially with midnight shifts, and a lower proportion of straight shifts without midnights than the 1999 survey sample.
The study found that nearly 2 in 10 controllers had
committed significant errors in the previous year,
such as bringing planes too close together and over
half attributed the errors to fatigue. A third of
controllers said they perceived fatigue to be a
"high" or "extreme" safety risk. Greater than 6 in
10 controllers indicated that in the previous year
they had fallen asleep or experienced a lapse of
attention while driving to or from midnight shifts,
which typically begin about 10 p.m. and end around 6
a.m.
What steps has the FAA taken to relieve the problem of controller fatigue? Answer - In 2012, the FAA implemented a comprehensive Fatigue Risk Management System to manage controller fatigue. This Fatigue Risk Management System includes policy and practice changes, along with fatigue education to raise awareness about the personal responsibilities associated with managing fatigue. Some of the changes the FAA has made as part of the Fatigue Risk Management System include:
Question - Has the FAAs policy on napping on breaks changed? How about napping during overnight shifts? Answer - Yes, we updated our policy in 2012. Based on staffing and workload and when no duties are assigned we offer employees break opportunities to attend to personal needs, rejuvenate their mental acuity, and other similar activities. These break opportunities are available on all work shifts, including overnight shifts. Question - Does the FAA still prohibit schedules with a single controller on duty after midnight? Answer - The FAA makes a practice of staffing at least two controllers on midnight shifts. There could be situations in which an individual calls in sick, but that is not standard. On those rare occasions, we have implemented additional procedures to ensure controller alertness. Question - How has controller scheduling changed? Is the minimum 9 hours off between work shifts announced after these events still in effect? Does this apply to all work shifts, or just the 2-2-1 rotation?
Answer -
Yes, we have changed our scheduling policies and
practices. These changes include:
Question - Does the FAA believe the problem of controller fatigue has improved? Do you have any metrics to judge that by?
Answer -
We believe it has improved. Although fatigue is an
issue in any 24/7 operation, the FAA has taken many
positive steps to minimize fatigue. The fatigue
modeling weve done shows that there is greater
alertness using these updated scheduling practices. |
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