Fatigued Air Traffic Controllers

Posted September 5th, 2006

If you have ever worked shift work, you can sympathize with air traffic controllers who say they will be forced to work even when they’re tired, under a new contract. An Associated Press article by Leslie Miller in the September 2 issue of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out that controller fatigue may be an issue in the investigation of the recent crash in Kentucky.

Fatigue is often a contributing factor in accidents. Fatigue is one of the “Dirty Dozen” causes of accidents in aviation maintenance. I worked shiftwork in the pipeline industry for many years and did workload studies with pipeline controllers. I know that fatigue while at work, combined with poor sleep while off work, causes cumulative sleep debt.

A fatigued worker is more prone to slips, lapses, mistakes, and violations. In addition, there is a demand for multitasking in most jobs, which also contributes to mental fatigue. Businesses are constantly looking for ways to cut costs. One of the ways is to get fewer workers to do more tasks. A comprehensive risk analysis should be performed before making changes that can affect safety of the public, the employees, and the environment.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 5th, 2006 at 10:44 am and is filed under In the News, Managing Fatigue.