Need, Effectiveness, and Awareness about Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) in Aviation Industry

This article discusses the need for Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) in the aviation industry. It highlights the impact of fatigue on pilot performance and the measures taken to mitigate it. The article also explores the effectiveness of FRMS and the awareness strategies adopted by the aviation industry. It provides insights into the implementation, evolution, and challenges faced in implementing FRMS. The article concludes with a discussion on the benefits of FRMS and successful case studies of its implementation.

NEED, EFFECTIVENESS, AND AWARENESS ABOUT Fatigue Risk Management
System (FRMS) IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
NEED,
EFFECTIVENESS, AND
AWARENESS ABOUT
Fatigue Risk
Management System
(FRMS) IN AVIATION
INDUSTRY
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NEED, EFFECTIVENESS, AND AWARENESS ABOUT Fatigue Risk Management
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Abstract
Aviation safety is an important issue because air traffic is increasing by each day. Aviation
sector across the world is growing rapidly and causing an acute shortage of highly skilled
pilots. This is why the majority of the pilots are overworked and fatigue is emerging as a
major problem and giving rise to a complicated situation. The presence of the fatigue in a
pilot can slow down his reflexes and reaction time and invite accidents. Concerned
organizations like Aviation Organization (ICAO) issued fresh guidelines related to the
Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) in the year 2008. Agencies like the International
Air Transport Association are constantly busy in collecting data with an intention to improve
the guidelines associated with the fatigue. The article reference’s highlights about the first
ever reported case in the history of aviation where fatigue was diagnosed as a reason behind a
crash. November 17, 2009, aircraft Pel-Air Westwind II VH-NGA, met with an accident, the
crew claimed that their reflexes were down because they were suffering from fatigue. The
entire paper illustrates about the need of FRMS and the awareness strategies that aviation
industry has adopted to mitigate the issues about fatigue. Where a fatigue risk management
system is in the place the improvements of it have been gathered and also noted in well-
being, personal health and cost and safety.
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NEED, EFFECTIVENESS, AND AWARENESS ABOUT Fatigue Risk Management
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Aviation safety is an important issue because air traffic is increasing by each day.
Aviation sector across the world is growing rapidly and causing an acute shortage of highly
skilled pilots. This is why the majority of the pilots are overworked and fatigue is emerging
as a major problem and giving rise to a complicated situation. The presence of the fatigue in
a pilot can slow down his reflexes and reaction time and invite accidents. Concerned
organizations like Aviation Organization (ICAO) issued fresh guidelines related to the
Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) in the year 2008. Agencies like the International
Air Transport Association are constantly busy in collecting data with an intention to improve
the guidelines associated with the fatigue.
Let’s have a look at one of the crash analysis that was written in the year 1993 this
analysis reads. “The impaired judgment, failure to execute an immediate action, improper
assessment of landing conditions and improper decision making” This analysis was written
for “DC-8-61 aircraft” crash in Cuba (Cook, 2018). This crash analysis report became a part
of aviation history because of the mention of a new word Fatigue. It was the first ever
reported case in the history of aviation where fatigue was diagnosed as a reason behind a
crash. November 17, 2009, aircraft Pel-Air Westwind II VH-NGA, met with an accident, the
crew claimed that their reflexes were down because they were suffering from fatigue. This
again is an important report because the pilots himself confessed that they were under the
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influence of fatigue (B.Cook, 2018). This crash analysis report became a part of aviation
history because of the mention of a new word Fatigue.
In order to prevent such conditions, tools like FRMS can be introduced more strictly
in this sector. The evolution of FRMS, hardships that companies are facing in the process of
the implementation of FRMS, the role of FRMS in bringing down the number of the mishaps,
are few questions that need an answer. A collective study of various secondary sources can
help anyone in understanding the crux of the issue and deliver a status report that can act as a
vital document for this industry sector.
FRMS implementation, evolution, and hardships that companies are facing in the
process of the implementation, its role in bringing down the number of the mishaps, how it
can add a new strength in the existing security guidelines of the aviation sector. The current
implementation of FRMS is adequate or room for improvement is present are the few
questions that demand an answer. A collective study of various secondary sources can help
anyone in understanding the crux of the issue and deliver a status report that can act as a vital
document for this industry sector.
Officially, it has been acknowledging that pilots and crew member’s poor
performance was an outcome of fatigue. It was the first ever reported case in the history of
aviation where fatigue was diagnosed as a reason behind a crash. November 17, 2009, aircraft
Pel-Air Westwind II VH-NGA, met with an accident, the crew claimed that their reflexes
were down because they were suffering from fatigue. This again is an important report
because the pilots himself confessed that they were under the influence of fatigue (B.Cook,
2018).
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Need for FRMS in Aviation:
The danger that is associated with an aircraft that comes out of the nature of its own:
it is merely so dangerous because it is flying. The pilots just cannot stop in the mid of the air,
and they have not the ability for changing (not counting boosted and doubled crews), that also
have the responsibility for every single passenger who is travelling on the aircraft (Dawson et
al., 2014). In the cases of, long distance flights, the pilots are influenced by the variable time
zones which are known as jet lag. Furthermore, the pilots of the aircraft are always under
pressure from the employers of them that try to increase the profits of them through applying
the maximum possibility of workload that can be taken on their crews and fleets while
keeping the cost down. During the booming of aviation, the work of the pilots was respected
and highly rated (Reason & Hobbs 2017). Currently, the pilots are considered only as a
simple mean for gaining tremendous amount of money for the organisations related to
aviation. Due to all these factors, the workload of the pilots is inadequately increasing as well
as thereby increasing some high level risks related to fatigue.
Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) is defined by ICAO as, the meaning of a
data that is driven is monitoring continuously as well as managing the risks that are involved
in fatigue-related safety, based on the scientific knowledge and principles as well as the
experience that is operational, that aim for ensuring the relevant personnel that are
performing at the level of adequate of the alertness (Caldwell & Caldwell, 2016).
It is described by the functioning of the entire fatigue risk management system as the
picture that is given below. The fatigue risk management system is nothing but a cycle that
involves the modelling, measurement process as well as the assessment of the present
conditions and the analysing of risk if the fatigue, mitigating and managing the risks that are
involved in evaluations and fatigue and feedback.
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Fig: The FRMS process
Apart from managing and mitigating the risks that are involved in the fatigue, the primary
advantages of fatigue risk management are : Reduction in a total number of accidents and
incidents that is related to the mistakes that are caused by the fatigue that should be connected
with the financial relate costs or the impact on the reputation of the operators, reduction of
the cost of insurance since some companies who deal with the protection might lower the
premium of the protection in the cases where it is proved by the operators that there is an
existence of Fatigue risk management system that is functional in the organisation of them,
reduction in the crew numbers absences that are connected to the fatigue, keeping and
recruiting a member of the crew by using the fatigue friendly list to provide a working
condition that are more better.
It is noteworthy to elaborate briefly on the different companies that have successfully
implemented:
New Zealand is the nation that has the longest existing principles of FRMS in FTL rostering.
As early as 1995, New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority Regulations had introduced FTL
scheme or a modified version of that scheme which is approved after an assessment. The
modification was based on the rightful response and justification of fatigue. In the year 2003,
there was an introduction of FRMS in Singapore Airlines. This was done after the initiation
of Ultra Long Haul flights that operated between Singapore and New York. The company
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had introduced such changes based on the scientific suggestions and also bio mathematical
modelling (Cadwell et al, 2009). Short haul airline easyJet was issued a Regulatory
dispensation from the FTL scheme which was based on the principals of FRMS. The FTL
Scheme uses fatigue risk management systems. There are certain factors that have to be
considered as it adversely hampers the health of flight crew. The factors that were majorly
taken into consideration include lack of sleep within the rest period and daily body rhythm
which is said to be impacting sleep quality and also leads to reduced performance due to lack
of sleep. There was an immense need of FRMS as it has shown a great deal of positive effects
on the entire industry and the performance. The improved work life balance has shown lower
rate of absenteeism and the crew members are able to perform better. ICAO had added FRMS
to Annex 6 and also listed out the ways and methods that are to be used in order to implement
FRMS (Cadwell et al, 2009).
The effectiveness of fatigue:
The Fatigue risk management system which is an organisational system that allows
the responsibilities related to the management of all the parties (employers and pilots) who
are participating, then they are well aware of the duties as well as the commitments of them.
Regulatory approach has been embraced by the aviation industry for the prevention of fatigue
by the restriction of the flight service length that is also known by flight time limitations.
One of the significant attributes of the Fatigue risk management system approach is that, all
the parties that are involved are sharing their responsibilities for the minimisation of the risks
and for increasing safety which is the new approach for the security. Therefore it is the duty
of the management for creating the working conditions that also minimize the risks that are
related to fatigue (Rangan et al., 2013). Simultaneously, the employees are responsible for
ensuring that the employees get the most out of the free time of them. A significant advantage
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for thinking about the fatigue is introduced by from the entire idea (Sneddon, Mearns & Flin,
2013). In past, the responsibilities that are mentioned above lied upon to a regulator who
prescribed the safety level that is based on the limitations of the flight time.
Each party who are participating – regulator as well as the employers and the operators of
the operator have the own duties of them in The Fatigue risk management. The matters that
are related to self management are intimately connected with these points. Such conditions
should be created by each of the pilots that are having an effect that is positive on the fatigue
such as the lower it or not to increase that steeply. The duties of the employees are, to get an
amount that is sufficient for sleep and to report the occurrences when the employees felt tired
due to not having enough sleep.
The duties of the employer or the operator are, to provide enough time or
opportunities for sleeping or resting and embracing the actions should be taken whenever an
employee is not fit for the exhausted or work.
The connection between safety and fatigue is so much challenging for defining. One
of the biggest challenges is the assessment of risk as the definition of ‘safe’ and ‘acceptable’
level is so much complicated (Müller, Wittmer & Drax, 2014). The acceptability of that risks
are deepened on the type of operation that is concrete in nature; therefore it differs for every
person and each organization.
Fatigue awareness:
The employees and the managers who maintain aviation have to be made bit more
aware about the risks that is associated with the fatigued specialist and workers in the
maintenance of aviation human factors such as calling for development for one necessary
campaign for awareness as one of the most critical step in the workplace of aviation-related
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to fighting (Gander, 2015). As the awareness is increased for the problem is also likely to be
the fuel effort for the development of a means of the fatigue measurement. Some significant
actions related to Anti-fatigue are, enhance worker and the employer fatigue awareness,
expand and continue the education related to the fatigue countermeasure, regulate and
support for the fatigue risk management system (FRMS), regulate hours for the limits of the
services, quantify operational and safety efficiency for the impact of fatigue, integrate the
awareness of fatigue management into the safety culture, ensure that the fatigue risk
management is considered in the programs that are related to the safety management system,
establishment of the baseline data of the risk with the existing systems that are related to the
event, improvement in collaboration with the fatigue risk management across and within the
organization, creation as well as the implementation of the tools that are related to the fatigue
assessment.
The Fatigue risk management system has not been implemented widely in the
organisations that are related to the aviation (Borghini et al., 2014). Although, the problem
has become one of the significant common problems in the commercial and railroad trucking
industries as well as for the flight crews. Where a fatigue risk management system is in the
place the improvements of it, have been gathered and also noted in well being, personal
health and cost and safety (Stolzer, (2017). As an example, it can be said one trucking firm
that is international has reported that they have saved millions of dollars for the health care
related cost.
The Fatigue risk management system has to be designed primarily for every
organisation. For the maintenance of aviation for Fatigue risk management system, the
first task is to reduce the fatigue-related risks to a level that can be acceptable by using
the interventions of the fatigue reduction such as scientific scheduling, the limits of duty
time, napping, excused absences, education as well as in some instances like treatment
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and medical testing (Filtness & Naweed, 2017). The second target to reduce and fix the
errors related to fatigue.
Among the data that is needed by the government as well as the financial effects that
is related to the fatigue and also the damage that is caused by fatigue, are estimated by the
aviation industry and the extent risk for safety in flight because of the maintenance for
fatigue, the implementation cost of FRMSs, as well as the probability that is having one
FRMS, could be able to prevent an event that is related to the fatigue (Darwent et al.,
2015).
After the industry has data that is related to the safety and financial risks of the
fatigue, the interventions that are appropriate can be further implemented as well as the
effects that will come from those interventions can also be assessed.
Risk-based approach:
Definitions of the safety and acceptability are in an area where the operational security is
addressed by the safety management system (SMS) that might be sent as a package of the
defined responsibilities, relations and the procedures that are used by the organizations that
are related to the aviation for assessing the hazard effects as well as for risk management
(Clothier & Walker, 2015). The tools are connected with two of the fundamental processes
that are related to the safety management, risk management, identification of hazard as well
as provide them with support that is complex. The SMS is actually focused on the
improvement of the level of the safety that is constant as well as it also introduces hazard
identification process into the everyday operations of the operators with collecting the data
related to security as well as the analysis of them, implementation of the mitigating strategies
and assessment of the risks (Wang & Chuang, 2014).
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According to the safety management system, the risk management includes the
development of the protection that is complex against the fatigue risk that is based on the
evolution of a risk which is formal (Sampigethaya & Poovendran, (2013). The scale of the
FRM entirely lies on to the organisation.
Methodology:
The risk based approaches for the functioning of the identifies of the FRMS that is
mentioned on the above, identifies all the risks by using proactive, predictive and the reactive
methods where the best method for the identification is the proactive method. At the time of
planning as well as an effort for predicting a level of the fatigue own experience of them is
being explored consistently, those might be brought by planning or operation that is totally
new. The process that is predictive has to determine the risks that are associated with the
fatigue through the control of the crew planning as well as the consideration of the factors
that are known, affecting sleep, fatigue as well as an effect of them on the performance
(Endsley, 2016). The methods might include however not limited to, operational experience
of the industry or the operators and the data collection from the activities that are similar, bio
mathematical models and planning about the methods that are based on the records.
The first two methods are an approach that is common which can be used by anyone.
Because they are just too much simple for the implementation as well as depend on a data
type which can be accessible for any of the operators.
Conclusion:
Overall, is it can be concluded that the aim of the FRMS is to mitigate the risks that are
related to fatigue at each of the observed level. For achieving those goals the experts exploit
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their knowledge about the fatigue for concrete situations. However, it is no possible to
eliminate fatigue totally. Generally, it is very difficult for assessing own level of the fatigue
of own. But there are so many different tools for eliminating the fatigue risks. The fatigue
should also be treated as a risk that is operational. That is an extremely difficult task and the
main reason behind this is, it is so hard for managing something, which is impossible to
measure (Waclawski & Noone, 2017). With the gradual development in the science for the
matter of the fatigue, within the scope of bio mathematical models as well as FRMS, a new
development can be expected. The outcomes of the model might be used for the improvement
of the crew planning for confirming the accuracy of the plans that have already been
prepared, for the establishment of the predictions of each fatigue, for training, for
measurement of performance and during the investigation.
Psychologists have always stressed on the importance of work and life balance but the
aviation industry took some bit of time in bringing this in action. The result was reduced
incidence of lower performance. Travelling time zones has its own tiring effect on the body
and mind which cannot be altered immediately. Through this assignment there has been much
revelation provided as to why FRMS is so important and why its implementation was
something that was necessary to improve the quality of human resources available at the
disposal of the aviation industry. This was possible due to three main factors. First, it was
reduced performance that was observed by the management and secondly it was the result of
research and development that is carried out in aviation industry. FRMS is the result of
research activities that form the backbone of industries. Another important factor which may
be deemed as third factor is increased importance being given to the human resources and not
basing the industry solely on the customers. It took a while before the corporate world
realized that human resources is an important stakeholder and in order to have a quality
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human resources it is important that needs and grievances of the human asset is heard and
taken quick actions (Hobbs Avers & Hiles 2011).
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