Lec 10

Question 1

What is Safety Assurance?

Answer 1

Safety Assurance processes which go on within an SMS is the investigation of incidents and accidents.

Question 2

What is the SOLE aim of Safety Assurance?

Answer 2

The SOLE aim of these investigations is to establish anything which can be done to prevent it from happening again.

Question 3

Why is Risk control used and what ways are there to control risks?

Answer 3

New Risk Controls are often implemented in response to major findings. These can be in the form of:

• New or additional Training
• New Procedures
• New Limitations etc

Question 4

What are the two sub-categories in unsafe acts of operators and what are they?

Answer 4

Errors - represent the mental or physical activities of individuals that fail to achieve their intended outcome.

Violations - refer to the willful disregard for the rules and
regulations that govern the safety of flight.

Question 5

What are Skill-Based Errors?

Answer 5

Errors occurring in the operator’s execution of a routine highly practised task relating to procedures, training or proficiency that result in an unsafe situation.

Question 6

What are Decision Errors?

Answer 6

Intentional behaviours or actions of the operators that proceed as planned but the plan itself proves inadequate or inappropriate for the situation

Question 7

What are Perceptual Errors?

Answer 7

Errors occurring when an operator’s sensory input is degraded and a decision is made based on faulty information

Question 8

What are Routine Violations?

Answer 8

• Bending the rules which CASA has a Zero Tolerance for.

* Habitual actions on the part of the operator and are tolerated by the governing authority.

Question 9

What are Exceptional violations?

Answer 9

Isolated departures from authority, not necessarily indicative of an individual’s typical behaviour pattern

Question 10

What are the three sub-categories of Preconditions for Unsafe Acts and what are they?

Answer 10

1. Environmental Factors - refer to the physical and technological factors that affect practices, conditions and actions of an individual that could result in human error or an unsafe situation.
2. Condition of Operators - refers to the adverse mental state, adverse physiological state and physical/mental limitations factors that affect practices, conditions or actions of individuals and result in human error or an unsafe situation.
3. Personnel Factors refer to the CRM and personal readiness factors that affect practices, conditions or actions of individuals and result in human error or an unsafe situation.

Question 11

What is Physical Environment?

Answer 11

Both the operational environment/settings (e.g., weather)
and the ambient environment (e.g., heat)
• Flying into adverse weather -> Reduced visual cues -> Spatial disorientation -> Perceptual errors
• Heat -> Dehydration -> Reduced pilot’s concentration level -> Slower decision making

Question 12

What is some Physical Environment factors?

Answer 12

• Weather
• Altitude
• Terrian
• Lighting
• Vibration
• Toxins in the cockpit

Question 13

What is Technological Environment?

Answer 13

Encompasses a variety of issues including the design of

equipment and controls, display/interface characteristics, checklist layouts, task factors and automation.

Question 14

What are some Technological Environment factors?

Answer 14

• Equipment/control design
• Checklist layout
• Display/interface characteristics
• Automation

Question 15

What is Adverse Mental State?

Answer 15

Mental conditions that would affect performance (e.g., stress, mental fatigue, over-confidence, motivation)

Question 16

What are some Adverse Mental State factors?

Answer 16

• Loss of situational awareness
• Complacency
• Stress
• Overconfidence
• Poor flight vigilance
• Task saturation
• Alertness
• Get-home-itis
• Mental fatigue
• Circadian dysrhythmia
• Channelised attention
• Distractions

Question 17

What is Adverse Physiological States?

Answer 17

Medical or physiological conditions that preclude safe

operations.

Question 18

What are some Adverse Physiological State factors?

Answer 18

• Mental illness
• Hypoxia
• Physical fatigue
• Intoxication
• Motion sickness
• Effects of OTC medications

Question 19

What is Physical/Mental Limitations?

Answer 19

Refer to those instances when operational requirements

exceed the capabilities of the individual at the controls.

Question 20

What are some Physical/Mental Limitation factors?

Answer 20

• Visual limitations
• Insufficient reaction time
• Information overloads
• inadequate experience for the complexity of situations.
• Incompatible physical capabilities.
• Lack of aptitude to fly
• Lack of sensory input

Question 21

What is Crew Resource Management (CRM)?

Answer 21

Factors include communication, coordination, planning and teamwork issues

Question 22

What are some Crew Resource Management (CRM) factors?

Answer 22

• Failed to conduct adequate belief
• Lack of teamwork
• Lack of assertiveness
• Poor Communication/coordination within and between aircraft, ATC, etc.
• Misinterpretation of traffic calls
• Failure of leadership

Question 23

What is Personal Readiness?

Answer 23

Refers to off-duty activities required to perform optimally on the job such as adhering to crew rest requirements, alcohol restrictions and other off-duty mandates.

Question 24

What are some Personal Readiness factors?

Answer 24

• Failure to adhere to crew rest requirements
• Inadequate training
• Self-mediating
• overexertion while off duty
• Poor dietary practices
• Patterns of poor risk judgement

Question 25

What are the four sub-categories of Unsafe Supervision and what are they?

Answer 25

1. Inadequate Supervision - Supervisors must provide guidance, training opportunities, leadership, oversight, motivation and incentives to ensure the task is performed safely and efficiently.
2. Planned Inappropriate Operations - Operations that are not acceptable during normal operation, leading to:
   o Unacceptable level of risk
   o Jeopardised crew rest
   o Negative effect on crew performance
3. Failure to correct a known problem - Instances when deficiencies (e.g., individual, equipment, training) are known to the supervisor but are allowed to continue unabated.
4. Supervisory Violations - Instances when existing rules and regulations are wilfully disregarded by supervisors.

Question 26

What are some examples of Inadequate supervision?

Answer 26

• Failed to provide guidance
• Failed to provide operational doctrine
• Failed to provide oversight
• Failed to provide training
• Fail to track qualifications
• Failed to track performance

Question 27

What are some examples of Planned Inappropriate operations?

Answer 27

• Failed to provide correct data
• Failed to provide adepuate breif time
• Improper manning
• Mission not in accorance with rules/regulations.
• Provided inadequate opportuniy for crew rest.

Question 28

What are some examples of Failure to correct a known problem?

Answer 28

• Failed to correct document in error
• Failed to identify an at-risk aviator
• Failed to initate corrective action
• Failed to report unsafe tendencies.

Question 29

What are some examples of Supervisory Violations?

Answer 29

• Authorized unnecessary hazards
• Failed to enforce reules and regulations
• Authorized unqualified crew for flight.

Question 30

What are the three sub-categories of Organisational Influences and what are they?

Answer 30

1. Resource managment - Refers to the organisational level decision-making regarding the allocation and maintenance of organisational assets (e.g., human resources, monetary resources & equipment/facility resource)
2. Operational Climate - Working atmosphere within an organisation (e.g., structure, policies, culture etc)
3. Operational Process - Corporate decisions and rules that govern the everyday activities within an organisation (e.g., operations, procedures, oversight)

Question 31

What are the different levels of failure in the HFACS?

Answer 31

Level 1 - Unsafe Acts of Operators.

Level 2 - Preconditions for unsafe acts.

Level 3 - Unsafe Supervision.

Level 4 - Organisational Influences.