Which Topics for Aviation Maintenance Human Factors Training?

Reviewing Your Human Factors Training Program

When was the last time you took a good look at your Human Factors (HF) course?

Does it strategically focus on the current aviation maintenance problem areas?

Or are you literally trying to cover dozens of topics in just two days? If you don't know these major topics, check the EASA human factors recommended training syllabus.

There is good news...

EASA Human Factors Requirements Are Not Rigid

The good news is that all of those topics in the EASA syllabus are "recommended"—they are not cut in stone. You have the ability to customize topics to fit your organization’s specific needs.

According to our Line Operations Safety Audits for Maintenance (LOSA-M) data, as well as a review of the last ten-plus years of maintenance accident/incident reports, it is clear that safety culture and procedural deviations are two of the most significant contributing factors in aviation maintenance-related accidents and incidents.

Typically, procedural deviations are a manifestation of an unhealthy safety culture. Yet, many human factors courses only speak to these topics in a very cursory way, if at all. This is a missed opportunity.

Productively Using Time During Human Factors Courses

I’m not diminishing the importance of topics such as, for instance—Motion and Vibration—but spending an inordinate amount of time on these types of topics at the expense of more relevant topics is not the most productive way to use your limited time to make an impact on behavioral change.

When choosing your major topics for human factors training, keep in mind that there are "global hotspots" (the things that are happening at MROs all over the world) and there are resident hotspots (the things that are indigenous to your specific organization). Your syllabus should address both global and local; however, more emphasis should be placed on your local issues.

In many cases, there is a strong similarity between global and local hotspots, but there will always be unique issues that are specific to your operation.

How do you get this local information? Your company’s Safety Management System (SMS) is a great start.

Also look at

Maintenance Error Decisions Aid (MEDA) data,
Maintenance Operations Quality Assurance (MOQA) data,
Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) data,
incident/accident reports, occurrences, on-the-job injuries, etc.

And don’t forget that you can get a lot of information by simply observing operations in real time. This is where a LOSA for maintenance program is very beneficial. All of these data sources will assist you in identifying the uniquely human factors training curriculum for focused training in your company’s HF courses.

Need some help with your human factors training? We can help.