A Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance

Safety considerations require that air carrier maintenance be of the highest quality and essentially error-free. Economic considerations require that maintenance activities be as efficient as possible. Success in meeting both safety and economic goals depends on the performance of those working in the aviation maintenance community. A human factors guide can be of value in supporting and enhancing the performance of aviation maintenance personnel. One end product of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) program on “Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance” is a guidebook presenting human factors information oriented specifically toward the air carrier maintenance workforce. The Human Factors Guide presents established principles of job design and work. Coverage is broad and includes a variety of topics considered important in determining maintenance effectiveness and in the control of maintenance error. The preparation of the Human Factors Guide was done in a manner to ensure that needs of users were addressed. Size and format were selected in terms of user preferences. Information obtained through a series of FAA-sponsored human factors meetings plus that gained from a survey of maintenance personnel guided both the selection of topics and the presentation of materials.

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Tools for Human Performance Enhancement in Aviation Maintenance

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129503900114 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 60-60

Author(s):

William B. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Research Program ◽

Human Performance ◽

Performance Enhancement ◽

Federal Aviation Administration ◽

Cd Rom ◽

Aviation Maintenance ◽

Multi Media ◽

Maintenance And Inspection ◽

The Right

Human Factors and ergonomics professionals are often asked to “show” how their research has affected on-the-job human performance. They are asked to show measurable changes in human effectiveness and efficiency at work. There is always the demand for HF&E researchers to create procedures and tools that can guide non-human factors personnel to make the “right” human-centered decisions. This symposium will show and distribute such tools that have been designed and tested in an aviation maintenance environment. For over six years now, the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Aviation Medicine has conducted an extensive research program centered on human factors in aviation maintenance and inspection. The research program has earned a reputation of demonstrating a “hands-on” understanding of aviation maintenance and maintaining a close working relationship with all segments of the industry. The symposium will begin with an overview of FAA-sponsored research results applied to aviation maintenance and safety over the past six years. In the second paper the Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance, completed in 1995, will be described. The third presentation will demonstrate a CD-ROM version of the Guide. The presentation shall also discuss human-computer interface issues pertinent to developing interactive multi-media information systems. The final presentation will show a multi-media software package to conduct ergonomics audits in a variety of industrial environments. The system has evolved from three years of ergonomics audit research in aviation maintenance workplaces. Each of the session presentations will demonstrate and distribute HF&E tools to session attendees.

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Electronic Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129503900117 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 71-74

Author(s):

Julie A. Jones ◽

T. Kiki Widjaja

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Computer Software ◽

Federal Aviation Administration ◽

Digital Information ◽

Aviation Maintenance ◽

Technological Advances ◽

Digital Documentation ◽

Digital Information Technology ◽

Human Factors Research ◽

Future Plans

Technological advances in the area of computer software, hardware and peripherals have made digital information technology feasible. The Federal Aviation Administration Office of Aviation Medicine has been investigating the application of such technology. The overall goal is to increase accessibility and to improve distribution of Human Factors research reports and information to the aviation maintenance industry. The latest digital documentation project is the Electronic Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance (E-Guide). The E-Guide is a hypermedia version of the Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance (the Guide) which is described elsewhere in this symposium. This paper describes the design goals, key features, and future plans for the E-Guide.

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Human Factors Challenges in Aviation Maintenance

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129203600121 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 82-86 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

William T. Shepherd

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Broad Spectrum ◽

Research Program ◽

Aircraft Maintenance ◽

Vice Presidents ◽

Aviation Medicine ◽

Aviation Maintenance ◽

The Past ◽

Air Carrier ◽

Maintenance And Inspection

The FAA Office of Aviation Medicine has been conducting a research program for the past two years dealing with human factors issues in aircraft maintenance and inspection. As part of this program a series of workshops have been held with participation of a broad spectrum of air carrier industry representatives. These representatives, ranging from hanger floor technicians to vice - presidents, have identified a series of issues or challenges which present their most formidable human factors problems. The FAA research program has been designed to address these challenges. This paper describes five of these challenges and offers guidance on methods for dealing with them.

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Introducing a Practical Human Factors Guide into the Aviation Maintenance Environment

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129403800120 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 101-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael E. Maddox

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Aircraft Design ◽

Federal Aviation Administration ◽

Major Product ◽

Air Travel ◽

Human Capabilities ◽

Aviation Maintenance ◽

The Third ◽

To Receive ◽

Human Factors Research

A safe and efficient air travel system depends on three elements; design, operation, and maintenance. The Human Factors profession essentially began and matured in the aviation environment. The aircraft cockpit and the skills involved in piloting have been the subjects of more human factors research than any other single topic. Likewise, the topic of aircraft design has been the beneficiary of many of the tools and procedures developed to embed human capabilities into products. The third component, maintenance, seems to receive attention only when it is shown to be a contributing factor in a mishap. In an effort to embed proper human factors principles in the aircraft maintenance environment, Congress, through the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Aviation Medicine (OAM), has mandated that more emphasis be placed on human factors in maintenance operations. A major product of this initiative is a Human Factors Guide, being developed to provide practical, useful, and usable guidance to supervisors and planners in the aviation maintenance industry. This paper describes the goals, form, and content of the new Human Factors Guide.

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Human Factors Training for Aviation Maintenance Personnel

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118139704100299 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 1168-1171 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

William B. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Aviation Industry ◽

Aviation Maintenance ◽

Course Offerings ◽

Training Courses ◽

Course Length ◽

Maintenance Personnel

There is a growing awareness within the aviation industry that new levels of safety and efficiency can be achieved through attention to the human factors in maintenance. The result is that many airlines are creating human factors training courses for maintenance personnel. At the same time there is an increasing number of consultants offering human factors courses. This paper discusses the growing demand and rationale for training related to human factors in maintenance. The paper describes various course offerings — content, instructor qualifications, course length — and experiences of the author as a provider of maintenance human factors training.

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Electronic Ergonomic Audit System for Maintenance and Inspection

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129503900118 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 75-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Gopinath Meghashyam

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

User Interface ◽

Human Factors ◽

Performance Enhancement ◽

Federal Aviation Administration ◽

Inference Engine ◽

Reference Database ◽

Aviation Maintenance ◽

Scientific Corporation ◽

Maintenance And Inspection

This paper describes an ergonomic auditing software system, one of the tools used for performance enhancement of aircraft inspectors. This tool was developed at Galaxy Scientific Corporation, in cooperation with the State University of New York at Buffalo, for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The purpose of the development task was to integrate a variety of ergonomic audit tools into a comprehensive package. This ergonomic auditing system called “ERgoNomic Assessment Program” (or ERNAP), carries out an ergonomic evaluation for maintenance and inspection operations. ERNAP can also be used to help designers build ergonomically efficient procedures and systems. ERNAP evaluates existing/proposed tasks and setups in the application of human factors/ergonomic principles, and suggests ergonomic interventions. The package consists of a user interface, an inference engine, a printing module, and a reference database. The user interface supports user learning, helps guide the user through the steps, describes the less familiar ergonomic principles, allows the user to access on-line help, and is simple to use. The inference engine evaluates the user inputs based on the reference database and different models of analysis. This package maintains consistency with the Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance which is reported within this session.

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Making a Business Case for the Human Factors Programs in Aviation Maintenance

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193120004402271 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 44 (22) ◽

pp. 767-770 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Manoj S. Patankar ◽

James C. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Airline Industry ◽

Return On Investment ◽

Training Programs ◽

Business Plan ◽

Business Case ◽

Financial Success ◽

Aviation Maintenance ◽

Maintenance Personnel

A growing challenge to the developers of human factors training programs today is that of financial justification. Most aviation maintenance personnel in the airline industry are aware of human factors issues; however, supervisors and managers continue to be challenged to make a business case for their human factors programs. This paper presents a model for the development of an integrated human factors business plan with return-on-investment calculations. Organizations that have already conducted the training, will find the return-on-investment calculations useful to measure the financial success of their training efforts.

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Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance and Inspection: Research Responding to Safety Demands of Industry

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129503900115 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 61-65 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

William T. Shepherd ◽

William B. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Research And Development ◽

Human Factors ◽

Human Performance ◽

Federal Aviation Administration ◽

Working Relationship ◽

Aviation Medicine ◽

Aviation Maintenance ◽

Pragmatic Research ◽

Scientific Principles ◽

Maintenance And Inspection

For over five years the Federal Aviation Administration has conducted extensive research and development to enhance human performance and safety in aircraft maintenance and inspection. Directed by the Office of Aviation Medicine(AAM) the program has engaged in pragmatic research capitalizing on basic scientific principles and a thorough working relationship with all levels of aviation maintenance practitioners. This paper describes a few of the example research products that are currently promoting safety and efficiency in maintenance applications worldwide.

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