Fatigue Risk Management tools that make a difference.
The two volumes of ICAO FRM guidance material are quite comprehensive documents of some 150 pages each. Some safety professionals find it difficult to fully embrace the concept of FRMS after reading them. For this reason we at Jeppesen have produced a one-page concise simplification you might find useful. Please find it through this link. Enjoy!
Fatigue Risk Management tools that make a difference.
A few years ago, Finnair became the first airline to plan their pilots with direct influence by a mathematical fatigue model during crew schedule construction. In recent months the airline has expanded its usage to also include fatigue “alerts” that are automatically pushed to the planners in day of operation.
Finnair is using the alert monitor, a feature of Jeppesen Crew Tracking. The alert monitor re-evaluates the entire operation every few seconds and flag potential crew problems to the planner such as late check-ins, too short connection times, breach of maximum duty time etc.
The alert monitor has been in use at Finnair for several years, but it has until now only been used to resolve issues around operational feasibility and regulatory compliance. Now, supporting a performance-based approach, the human physiology is taken into account through the use of the Boeing Alertness Model – allowing for a more precise address of flight safety.
Jari Ahonen, Crew Tracking Specialist, Finnair, showing fatigue alerts in the system
“The alert monitor is our main tool for not missing out taking action where needed,” says Jari Ahonen at Finnair. “Fatigue alerts are now present as a new category in the monitor enabling us to put extra attention to problematic scheduling patterns – going beyond what regulation requires. Also during problem resolution, when recombining flights for our crew, we have fatigue indicators available in our planning GUI and can take that into account.”
The Sextant Readings presentation – 8 Steps to an Efficient SMS – has been viewed over 1750 times on SlideShare.
Positioning the “8 steps to an efficient SMS” is intended to clarify some of the mis-information about Safety Management that is rife on the internet. There is a lot of hype about SMS – usually focused on the particular strengths of a vendor’s offering.
However we view Safety Management in the context that safety is a direct result of “A management system based on professionalism and safety principles” of an organization. There are many ‘pieces’ of management system support in the offerings from so-called Safety Professionals.
At Sextant Readings we believe that supporting the management of an organization based on the principles of professionalism and safety is our business. You can see the presentation here:
Fatigue has been cited as a contributing factor in aviation accidents. Therefore, a robust Safety Management System (SMS) must take fatigue into account. Capturing and analyzing data within the SMS provides tangible evidence to both airlines and pilots on the effect of fatigue.
An effective Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) will rely on a culture that encourages reporting of observed hazards during operations. Under this culture, the pilot will be comfortable feeding back information on their performance during a flight. The analysis of the data captured provides information to the airline operations department, allowing them to proactively manage the impact of fatigue and adjust their recommendations for flying hours and rest times. This analytical, proactive approach to fatigue risk management builds on the same principles as those applied to SMS.
Ideagen Gael have partnered with Jeppesen, (Press release) a unit of Boeing Flight Services, to provide airlines with a new automated solution to report crew fatigue. CrewAlert, an iPhone application built on the Boeing Alertness Model (BAM), has been designed to help airlines and their crews manage alertness and fatigue. Through the partnership, CrewAlert is able to automatically submit crew fatigue reports directly into Ideagen Gael’s Q-Pulse product. This co-ordination allows airlines to create safety reports that aid root cause analysis when working to reduce crew fatigue