Airport Operations Human Factors: Human Factors Training Program

Human Factors training in Airport operations

Human factors training can address many issues which causes incidents or accidents during the day to day operations in an airport. The training provides necessary knowledge to understand the principles and procedures which should be integrated into the work environment. The human factors training in the important areas of airport operations increases the awareness levels of the personnel working in the corresponding environment.

Importance of Human Factors Training in Airport operations

Human factors training is an important aspect for effective airport operations because

  • Human Factors training creates and reinforces a positive safety culture in the working environment.
  • The human factors training is necessary to identify methods to recognize, understand and manage human performance issues.
  • The work performance and the mental health of the work force is improved as a result of human factors training.
  • The training should emphasize on the new regulations, procedures and the equipments, thus providing awareness to the workforce involved and thereby contributing to the increase in efficiency of the job performance.
  • A personnel can be able to learn about the cause of an incident through a human factors training program, hence reducing the chances of occurrence of any error1

Setting up of a Human Factors training Program

The Key topics to be introduced in a human factors training program include

  • General introduction to human factors,safety culture and organizational factors, human error—error principles, event investigation, and case studies,human performance and limitations, Environmental considerations, Procedures, information, tools, and task sign-off practices. Planning for tasks, equipment, and spares, Communication, Teamwork, Professionalism and integrity, Shift and task turnover, Fatigue management and fitness for duty
  • The data obtained from previous investigations of an incident can be used for defining the training requirements.
  • The training should be framed in a way that it provides co-operation among the work force and management.
  • The training should be integrated with a system wide human factors plan.
  • The content of human factors training should be delivered in accordance with the requirement of the audience, which enables them to understand and implement the concepts easily.
  • The training program should be framed in such a way that, initial and recurrent training will be provided to the work force.
  • A system to measure the effectiveness of the training should be incorporated so that it provides the feedback to the human factors training instructors and the management to focus on improvements in the training offered1

The Results of a successful human factors training program

A successful human factors training program results in

  • The acceptance of the training by the workforce and the management.
  • The event investigation results show a considerable reduction in the number of human factors related incidents.
  • The injuries and equipment damages are being reduced and there will be improvement in the performance of targeted areas of the company.
  • The workforce behavior regarding the safety awareness and practices show an improved performance1

Thus, the above article discusses about the human factors training in airport operations, the importance and development of a human factors training program and the improvements obtained as a result of successful human factors training.

References
1. FAA (2007). Operator’s manual: Human factors in airport Operations. Retrieved from ATC Vantage Inc on 05 October 2011.

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Authors / Editors

Gokul KrishnanGokul Krishnan


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