Page 40 - World Airnews Magazine February 2020 Edition

HUMAN HUMAN
FACTORS FACTORS

A CULTURE OF SAFETY SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

By Nelius Dannhauser CRM facilitator Comair
By Jaco van der Westhuizen

hear that?’ And suddenly you hear it! You know formation that might serve you well in future.

it was there before, yet you subconsciously Arrogance is an obvious barrier to comms,

n industry, human factors (also known f you ask five experts what Situational ignored it. That was your brain ‘load shedding’ but what about under-confidence? Perhaps

shy to engage with other pilots because you
information that it deemed unimportant.
Ias ergonomics) are the study of how IAwareness is, you will get 12 answers. Put these two concepts together and we think they fly fancier aircraft or have more

humans behave physically and psychologi- Proven fact. get to a good metaphor for perception. experience? In a lifetime among both private

cally in relation to particular environments, Here’s the thing- they are all probably Your perception is like Google Maps. It’s an and commercial pilots I still haven’t met one

products, or services. A human factors right. It is an ever-changing idea. A mo- accurate representation of the world, yet it who doesn’t’t like to chat about flying. This is

specialist typically has an advanced aca- ment to understand and a lifetime to mas- is not. While it will get you to your destina- especially true of places that you are unfamil-

demic degree in Psychology or has special ter type of concept. Here is my simplified, tion, it does not show what your neighbours’ iar with. Local knowledge is priceless.

training. hopefully useful version: dog did on your lawn. It shows a useful Predict. The ability to predict is one of

Human factors is considered a multi-fac- The formal way of explaining Situational world, but not a 100% accurate one. That the skills that most of us pick up early in our

eted domain that straddles many organi- Awareness is the ability to perceive, com- map will also show you the traffic light, but aviation adventure. Usually from your first
prehend and predict (Endsley 1988).

sational disciplines and combines multiple not the highjacker lurking in the shadows. instructor to - ‘Stay ahead of the airplane’.

sciences with the aim of improving or at Perceive. To look, listen, feel. It’s natural What does this all mean for you? Hope- There is a catch with the prediction part
least sustaining human performance in all for humans to believe that ‘seeing is believ- fully it makes you realise that even with though. Your brain predicts what is going

its forms with the ultimate goal of balanc- ing’. We naturally trust our senses. But the best intentions, it is possible to miss to happen in the near future by pattern

ing safety and efficiency. your eyes don’t really ‘see’ anything. They things. It might feel that the world around matching your current situation to something
The big, hairy, audacious topic that we are instruments for measuring light. The you is true, but always remember that it is it’s seen before. It is possible to match the

quote but tend to avoid at all costs is, of information is sent to your brain where it is only your perception of that world. Your wrong pattern. Let me explain like this - you
processed and a picture is built up. You see

course, culture. The culture of an industry, with your brain. For that matter, your brain perception may be strong, but wrong. are approaching a familiar traffic light at

organisation or a flying community is one Comprehend. You cannot understand cruising speed. The crossing traffic gets a red

of the topics that a human factors specialist fills in a lot of little gaps for you. The same something that you don’t know about. Do- light. What will happen next? That’s right;

should have his/her finger on the pulse goes for all your other senses. ing your part to know your aircraft technical, you accelerate because the light is going to

when planning, designing, implementing Pilots can relate to this. Aircraft feed air law, metrology, etc. goes a long way turn green. Good Situational Awareness. But

or maintaining systems or introducing information from their various ‘senses’, like here. This is also why we use aircraft acci- what if someone installed a three phase traf-

interventions. We have all heard the saying Flight Safety Australia, 2019). In a way, that and organisational aspects of business. temperature and pressure to an air data dents extensively in Human Factors training. fic light last night? Now you arrive at the line

that culture has strategy for breakfast on may be because managing safety is about Therefore, we cannot dare to assume computer, which then builds the picture we Other pilots’ mistakes help us identify pos- with a red light and carrying too much ener-

any given day. Thinking that we can change how we deal with risk in every sphere, at that safety is always considered or that use to fly. Just like you. sible threats. Want some free training of gy. You might have to take evasive action.

a culture usually is very optimistic and every level of an organization or within non-operational matters have no impact on It is worth noting that your brain can this type? In a social environment pilots will Now here is the tricky part: How would

often leaves us wanting at the end of any the aviation fraternity in the training and the performance of the safety system. In its only process new information so fast. If often share ‘war stories‘. If you are wise you you know you have lost SA when you need

corporate project. maintenance departments. most elevated form, it can have an unde- something goes wrong and you have the can build your database of dos and don’ts. SA to know that you have lost SA? Here’s

A lot of times the organizational culture is For a human factors specialist it is im- sired impact on the culture of safety, either luxury of time, it helps to give yourself On that note of banter. When it comes to how. Look for indicators that your Situa-

left to be ‘managed’ by an HR department, portant to have the capability to explore by actively being ignored at the coal face or three to five seconds to take the situation building Situational Awareness there are very tional Awareness is low. Confusion, fixation

although safety professionals cannot afford and understand as best possible what the by signaling to staff that safety is a critical in. There are many long multi-syllable few things that beat good communication. If or a feeling of unease. You can never know

not to know what the underlying culture main themes and drivers are of the organ- consideration in business decision making, scientific reasons this works, but just trust you want to improve your communication that you’ve lost SA, only suspect it. Learn

of a team, department or organisation is isational culture. For a regulator it would but only as it applies to certain aspects and me. It helps you make better decisions. skills, open your ears. Active listening is a skill to trust those suspicions. Do the simplest

when we manage risk. Being forearmed be important to employ such specialists so not all aspects of our business. Ultimately, The second thing about our sensory system that is honed with practice and powerful when things first. Buy yourself time. Ask for

with such knowledge and experience will that they can obtain an understanding of human factors make business sense when is that we can sometimes miss things. Imagine wielded. On the negative side, very few things help. And get to a safe place.

provide us with capability to influence the culture. It would also be important so we can implement and change aspects of you are standing in a place where you’ve been hamper good comms like an ego. Both over Now go out and enjoy your safe flying! Q

certain aspects of a very complex phenom- that the regulator can be prepared not to our business and receive a large percentage for a while. Someone walks in and says’ Do you and under confident egos cause you to miss in-
enon that we refer simply as culture of unknowingly influence a culture in a nega- of success. Unless our aim was to merely

safety. tive fashion to the point where the safety tick a box without critically looking at how

Still today there is no one single defini- culture may be damaged. Many times new the system and the culture has adopted the

tion of culture that academics can agree policies, systems or processes are imple- change with minimal risk to safety.
upon. This is possibly because the com- mented with good intent while decision Caption: Safety is a critical consideration

plex nature of a culture makes it appear makers do not know how to prepare the in the world of aviation and must be han-

elusive at times. On the one hand, we have audience (workforce) to adopt the change. dled properly. Image by Thomas Fengler

levels of culture that range from national Other times local sub-cultures have ob- from Pixabay (pilot at controls)

and regional to organisational and team tained efficiency that is working for them

cultures (Livermore, 2015). I have had first given their immediate constraints? Corpo- REFERENCES

hand experiences of the significance of rate or industry-level change is ignorant • Flight Safety Australia, 2019. Safety
a professional culture when it comes to of such constraints and minor adjustment culture – It’s how we do things around

safety critical industries such as aviation. could have an exponential benefit if trialed here. Civil Aviation Safety Authority,

In essence a safety culture is nothing but locally beforehand. Australian Government. Available on-
an organisational culture, or as termed In a way, human factors can act as a line: flightsafetyaustalia.com [accessed:

earlier, a culture of safety. In its simplest superconductor to safety change when this 03 January 2020].
form, Professor Sidney Dekker defines a capability exists in an organization. • Livermore, D.A. 2015. Cultural Intelli-

safety culture as a culture where the boss gence. HarperCollins Publishers: New
is willing to hear bad news (Dekker cited by A safety hat is always necessary because
safety competes with all other industry York. Q
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