Case Study: Aviation Industry Fatigue and Radiation Exposure Risks

This report presents a case study on the risks faced by the aviation industry, particularly focusing on pilot fatigue and radiation exposure. It delves into the hazards associated with cosmic radiation, its potential health impacts, and the risk management strategies currently employed. The report includes a literature review on the topic, a discussion of findings related to hazard exposure and risk management, and concludes with recommendations to mitigate these risks. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing the dangers of radiation exposure for aircrew, including pilots, and suggests improvements for the industry to become more environment-friendly and ensure the safety of its workers. The research employs qualitative methods and analyzes data from various sources to provide a comprehensive overview of the issue.

Running head: FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
Case study
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

2FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
Abstract
The following report is based on the aviation risk issues that the people involved in the aviation
sector faces while they are on services. The researcher has provided a clear detail about the
different risks that are generally faced by the workers working in the particular sector. In this
report a special emphasis has been given on the risks involved with the pilots. The pilots are
exposed to radiation every time they manage the cockpits. The research has in detail analyzed the
mentioned problem, discussed its potential threats and has mentioned about the steps being
carried out by the industry to reduce the threat. The researcher has also provided some
recommendations on the improvement of the current state of affairs which if followed and
implied can change the current situation and make the industry more environment friendlier.

3FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Methodology....................................................................................................................................4
Qualitative Research........................................................................................................................4
Quantitative Research......................................................................................................................5
Literature Review............................................................................................................................6
Discussion of Findings....................................................................................................................8
Hazard Exposure and Risk Management.........................................................................................8
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................10
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................11

4FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
Introduction
The report is based on the risks that are involved in the aviation sector. The risks are
faced by the people working in the particular sector especially the pilots and the crew members.
The researcher has discussed about the potential hazard of radiation exposure for the workers of
the aviation sector. The research will provide a detailed overview of the hazard by a qualitative
process.
Methodology
Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research is the type of research that is involved in the use of unreliable and
unstructured information sources and information, collection of different methods and careful
observations (Hammer et al. 2014). It also includes the conduction of the research interviews,
performing surveys and collecting information from some documents. Basically it is that kind of
research that can be said to be a theoretical form of research involving a detailed analysis of the
necessary documents. The readers will be well aware of the origin of the research, the date of
occurrence, the topic of the research and the collection of the research methods. The following
research has been completed by using qualitative research. Some of the steps in this particular
kind of research include;
A. Deciding the research topic
B. Preparation of the research
C. Preparation of the research Questionnaire and giving special attention to it

5FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
D. Conducting the literature review of the research
E. Evaluating the need for such a research whether it is needed or not
F. Identifying the sample size
G. Preparing the methodology of the research or the methods or procedures on how the
research is completed
H. Analysis of the information
Sampling refers to the collection of data from a selected group of participants on whom
an interview is conducted. The opinion of these selected few is taken into consideration while
preparing the research. The researcher has selected a sample size of 60 individuals from
different organizations consisting mainly of employees and managers.
The companies involved in the production of the aircrafts and the government as well as
the authorities is taking up a number of steps to control the operational risks of the
crewmembers. Operators make preparations for providing information and education which is
based on the dangers of exposure to radiation for the air crew. The air crew includes the flight
attendants, pilots and any other person that are employed by the aircraft to perform any duties
mentioned by the aircraft. The female crew members have a separate level of danger as because
they are much more sensible to radiation. However air couriers and other passengers who travel
by air regularly are excluded from this directive. Assessments of individuals' exposure to
radiation can be assessed using the dose for the routes calculated through a technologically
advanced computer program which also includes the staff roster information. The different
information that are to be included are the date of departure, location of departure, the time of
departure, altitude, ascent and many other such similar factors There are many such computer
programs, the latest version being CARI-6M.

6FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
Literature Review
The review of the literature has been done in this part of this report. The report has been
produced on the basis of the different reports and surveys that were considered as the part of the
report.
The crewmembers of the airlines have inexplicit tasks. The airlines have the
responsibility to maintain the safety of the aircraft as well as the passengers. The management
has to deal with both the normal as well as some errant passengers (Hammer et al. 2014). Many
unseen charged particles are entering the aircraft as they are present in the atmosphere of the
earth. These particular particles are harmful and exposure to such particles is a serious cause of
concern for the people and the crewmembers.
The high level of speed and energy is not a surprise that the UV rays can easily pierce
through the flesh and can act as a serious threat to the health of the individuals (Huff, Patel &
Simonsen, 2017). Their damage to tissues and DNA has been linked to cancer and reproductive
problems, for example.
The best news is that the cosmic rays does not pose huge risk to humans. That's because
earth’s atmosphere and a magnetic field that further forms a mighty shield against these cosmic
radiation. But the shield is penetrable, and some particles leak through this shield..
The Impacts of Space Weather on Aviation – There is a possible cause of concern for the
passengers of airlines during a typical flight time. It is quite natural for a pilot to be exposed to
radiation exposure equivalent to two x rays and on the whole year the pilot has been exposed to
the radiation exposure of nuclear plant. This may cause cancer or cataract to the pilot which
endangers the life of the passengers flying in the flight (Hammer et al. 2014).

7FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
People who remain in the ground are also exposed to radiation of some kind or the other.
The cosmic rays that enter the earth due to holes in the ozone layer are very much dangerous for
the persons as such an exposure involves much risk and increases the chance of cancer (Huff,
Patel & Simonsen, 2017). While flying in a flight the amount of radiation increases at a high
level. As mentioned earlier the altitude plays a vital role to the amount of exposure of the people
to the radiation.
NASA is working on a experimental tool to determine the exposure which it says will help to
ensure a safeguard for the passengers of the flight.
The windshields of the airplanes though have much strong glasses are vulnerable as
because UV rays enters the cockpit and endangers the life of the pilots (Hwang et al. 2015).
The daily flight journey for the pilots is more or less equal to clear exposure to some
tanning beds. The airplanes pass through high altitudes and though some amount of radiation is
blocked by the windshields a majority part of the UV radiation enters the cockpit which makes
the life of the pilots vulnerable. Such type of serious exposure endangers the life of the pilots as
they may develop skin cancer and other serious forms of cancer. Some of the researchers have
taken different scientific measurements of a plane flying at different altitudes. The research
showed that the windshield blocked the maximum UV-B radiation but it failed to stop UV-A
radiation.
“Pilots flying for 56.6 minutes at 30,000 feet receive the same amount of UV-A that
causes cancer effective radiation as that from a 20-minute tanning bed session,” the author
explains in the paper.

8FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
Discussion of Findings
Hazard Exposure and Risk Management
Cosmic radiation exposures on aircraft include:
 galactic cosmic radiation
 events of solar particle
Are there any known health effects from cosmic ionizing radiation?
 WHO or the World Health Organization as well as the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) describes that the ionizing effect of radiation is the main cause of cancer in
human beings. The following type of radiation can also cause serious reproductive issues in
Humans. Scientists are still conducting research on whether ionizing Radiation is the main
cause for the different health issues that has been discussed earlier.
 The studies conducted by the researchers have focused mostly on the age groups that are
believed to be exposed to much higher radiation.
 The crewmembers especially the pilots are prone to the hazards
 Appropriate controls are still not in place as the only effective method to deal with such a
problem is to increase the number of pilots and rotate their duties accordingly.
 Companies like Boeing and Airbus are working on to improve the quality of the glass used
in the Airplanes to reduce the chances of emission.
 The government along with the industrial authorities is working under a joint venture to
reduce the risk of potential exposure to radiation and adequate funds, human resources,
technical expertise is being provided by the government.

9FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
What is not known?
It is totally unknown about the cause of the health problems that may occur from radiation
exposure. Experts believe that some typical cancer diseases, reproductive health issues like
defects from birth and miscarriage are the cause of excessive radiation exposure (Tobiska et al.
2013).If someone is exposed to radiation and possess health problems it cannot be assessed
whether the following has been caused by bad work conditions or any other problems .
 The permissible levels of cosmic radiation are unknown to everyone.
How much cosmic radiation are crewmembers exposed to?
 The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements reports that members of
the aircrew are exposed to the largest amount of radiation which is much higher than the
permissible average (Hwang et al. 2015).
 The Fan Cari Program estimates the cosmic radiation of a particular flight time.
What do guidelines or regulations say about cosmic radiation exposure levels in aircrew?
There are no such official limits of dose for the aircrew of different flights except for some
national and international guidelines.
 The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) believes that aircrew to be
open to cosmic radiation from different factors must recommend a limit of 1 mSv
throughout pregnancy. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements has
a 0.5 mSv recommended monthly radiation limit during pregnancy.

10FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
 The airlines companies that operate in Europe assess the aircrew exposure to radiation. The
European union recommends 6 msV/year exposure the highest limit of exposure to the
people.
 Some of the crewmembers are exposed to much higher levels of cosmic radiation and thus
have high chances of risks..
Conclusions
The researcher in this particular report has been able to depict all the different elements
and risks that are involved in aviation operations. The special focus of the research is on the risk
of aviation crewmembers from radiation. The researcher has discussed all the specific varieties
of the risks in the literary part of the research and has discussed the following. Overall the
research will be helpful for the future researchers to carry on their further research.
Recommendations
The researcher has highlighted some recommendations to reduce the risks of radiation
contamination for the crew members of the different airlines company. Some of them are;
 The Collected information should be used to validate, confirm and make an update on the
present amount of radiation exposure for the people working in the airlines
 The authorities must work in tandem with the management of the different airlines and
assess the amount of radiation exposure that the crew of the airlines has endured.
 It is the duty of the authorities to persuade the airlines body to protect the crew members
by laws that helps to protect them from excessive radiation.

11FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
 The crew members of different Airlines Companies must avoid regular radiological tests
as they are vulnerable to radiation exposure The crew members must avoid
confrontations with the authorities and rather convince them to stop such regular
radiological screenings.
 The management of the Airlines must be aware of their duty of caring towards their
employees. The medical certificates of the employees must be kept in the database of the
company that will help them to manage their employees and take care of their health and
other benefits..
References
Hammer, G. P., Auvinen, A., De Stavola, B. L., Grajewski, B., Gundestrup, M., Haldorsen, T., ...
& Pukkala, E. (2014). Mortality from cancer and other causes in commercial airline
crews: a joint analysis of cohorts from 10 countries. Occup Environ Med, 71(5), 313-322.
Huff, J., Patel, Z., & Simonsen, L. (2017). NASA Space Radiation Protection Strategies-Risk
Assessment and Permissible Exposure Limits.
Hwang, J., Kim, K. C., Dokgo, K., Choi, E., & Kim, H. P. (2015). Heliocentric potential (HCP)
prediction model for nowscast of aviation radiation dose. Journal of Astronomy and
Space Sciences, 32(1), 39-44.
Knipp, D. J. (2017). Essential science for understanding risks from radiation for airline
passengers and crews. Space Weather, 15(4), 549-552.
Mertens, C. J. (2016). Overview of the Radiation Dosimetry Experiment (RaD‐X) flight
mission. Space Weather, 14(11), 921-934.

12FATIGUE IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
Sanada, Y., Sugita, T., Nishizawa, Y., Kondo, A., & Torii, T. (2014). The aerial radiation
monitoring in Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Progress
in Nuclear Science and Technology, 4, 76-80.
Sanlorenzo, M., Vujic, I., Posch, C., Cleaver, J. E., Quaglino, P., & Ortiz-Urda, S. (2015). The
risk of melanoma in pilots and cabin crew: UV measurements in flying airplanes. JAMA
dermatology, 151(4), 450-452.
Sanlorenzo, M., Wehner, M. R., Linos, E., Kornak, J., Kainz, W., Posch, C., ... & McGrath, J. T.
(2015). The risk of melanoma in airline pilots and cabin crew: a meta-analysis. JAMA
dermatology, 151(1), 51-58.
Shantha, E., Lewis, C., & Nghiem, P. (2015). Why Do Airline Pilots and Flight Crews Have an
Increased Incidence of Melanoma?. JAMA oncology, 1(6), 829-830.
Tobiska, W. K., Atwell, W., Beck, P., Benton, E., Copeland, K., Dyer, C., ... & Hong, S. (2015).
Advances in atmospheric radiation measurements and modeling needed to improve air
safety. Space Weather, 13(4), 202-210.
Tobiska, W. K., Gersey, B., Wilkins, R., Mertens, C., Atwell, W., & Bailey, J. (2014). US
Government shutdown degrades aviation radiation monitoring during solar radiation
storm. Space Weather, 12(1), 41-45.
Tobiska, W., Knipp, D. J., Burke, W. J., Bouwer, D., Bailey, J. J., Hagan, M. P., ... & Atwell, W.
(2013, December). Operational specification and forecasting advances for Dst, LEO
thermospheric densities, and aviation radiation dose and dose rate. In AGU Fall Meeting
Abstracts.