The effects of Crew Resource Management (CRM) training on flight attendants' safety attitudes

IntroductionA number of well-known incidents and accidents had led the aviation industry to introduce Crew Resource Management (CRM) training designed specifically for flight attendants, and joint (pilot and flight attendant) CRM training as a way to improve teamwork and communication. The development of these new CRM training programs during the 1990s highlighted the growing need for programs to be evaluated using research tools that had been validated for the flight attendant population.MethodThe FSAQ (Flight Safety Attitudes Questionnaire—Flight Attendants) was designed specifically to obtain safety attitude data from flight attendants working for an Asia–Pacific airline. Flight attendants volunteered to participate in a study before receiving CRM training (N = 563) and again (N = 526) after CRM training.ResultsAlmost half (13) of the items from the 36-item FSAQ showed highly significant changes following CRM training. Years of experience, crew position, seniority, leadership roles, flight attendant crew size, and length of route flown were all predictive of safety attitudes.Practical applicationsCRM training for flight attendants is a valuable tool for increasing positive teamwork behaviors between the flight attendant and pilot sub-groups. Joint training sessions, where flight attendants and pilots work together to find solutions to in-flight emergency scenarios, provide a particularly useful strategy in breaking down communication barriers between the two sub-groups.     

增强机组监控技能,确保飞行安全

良好的监控技能对确保飞行安全 ,预防飞行事故发生有十分重要的作用。但由于多方面原因 ,当前的飞行机组监控工作还存在不少问题 ,并成为多起飞行事故主要原因之一。笔者从四方面 ,对民用航空飞行中缺乏良好监控的原因予以分析和说明 :持续有效的监控工作不符合人的本性 ;现行规章制度中未把机组监控技能作为所有机组成员 ,尤其是对辅助操纵者的一项重要任务加以确定 ;现有管理制度与管理观念 ,更多关注行为结果而不是行为发生过程 ;飞行训练中未将其作为重要飞行技能加以训练。笔者强调指出 :采用标准操作程序 ,提高相应飞行阶段的监控技能 ,对不同飞行阶段的工作负荷予以计划和控制、进行工作优先排序 ,加强机组成员间配合 ,在训练中强化监控技能培养等措施 ,有助于改进和增强飞行机组的监控技能 ,确保飞行安全     

如何预防飞行过程中的不安全因素

民航飞机的运行过程大致分为起飞、爬升、巡航、航路下降、进近、着陆6个阶段。飞机起飞爬升和进近着陆是飞行事故的高发阶段。笔者分析了飞行各阶段的危险源,尤其将起飞爬升和进近着陆两个阶段作为主要研究内容;指出了飞行各阶段的关键操作技术及原理;提出了起飞可能面临多种危险,给出了起飞前机组风险意识检查单,并列出了国际飞行安全基金会(FSF,FlightSafetyFoundation)提出的进近着陆风险意识检查单;运用机组资源管理工具使飞行员树立安全风险意识,从而达到降低飞行事故率,提高飞行安全水平的目的。     

A comparison of general aviation accidents involving airline pilots and instrument-rated private pilots

Introduction: The extremely low accident rate for U.S air carriers relative to that of general aviation (∼1 and ∼60/million flight hours respectively) partly reflects advanced airman certification, more demanding recurrency training and stringent operational regulations. However, whether such skillset/training/regulations translate into improved safety for airline pilots operating in the general aviation environment is unknown and the aim of this study. Methods: Accidents (1998–2017) involving airline pilots and instrument-rated private pilots (PPL-IFR) operating non-revenue light aircraft were identified from the NTSB accident database. An online survey informed general aviation flight exposure for both pilot cohorts. Statistics used proportion testing and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: In degraded visibility, 0 and 40% (χ² p = 0.043) of fatal accidents involving airline and PPL-IFR airmen were due to in-flight loss-of-control, respectively. For landing accidents, airline pilots were under-represented for mishaps related to airspeed mismanagement (p = 0.036) relative to PPL-IFR but showed a dis-proportionate count (2X) of ground loss-of-directional control accidents (p = 0.009) the latter likely reflecting a preference for tail-wheel aircraft. The proportion of FAA rule violation-related mishaps by airline pilots was >2X (7 vs. 3%) that for PPL-IFR airmen. Moreover, airline pilots showed a disproportionate (χ² p = 0.021) count of flights below legal minimum altitudes. Not performing an official preflight weather briefing or intentionally operating in instrument conditions without an IFR flight plan represented 43% of airline pilot accidents involving FAA rule infractions. Conclusions: These findings inform safety deficiencies for: (a) airline pilots, landing/ground operations in tail-wheel aircraft and lack of 14CFR 91 familiarization regulations regarding minimum operating altitudes and (b) PPL-IFR airmen in-flight loss-of-control and poor landing speed management. Practical Applications: For PPL-IFR airmen, training/recurrency should focus on unusual attitude recovery and managing approach speeds. Airline pilots should seek additional instructional time regarding landing tail-wheel aircraft and become familiar with 14CFR 91 rules covering minimum altitudes.     

Acute injuries resulting from accidents involving powered mobility devices (PMDs)—Development and outcomes of PMD-related accidents in Sweden

Objective: Powered mobility devices (PMDs) are commonly used as aids for older people and people with disabilities, subgroups of vulnarable road users (VRUs) who are rarely noted in traffic safety contexts. However, the problem of accidents involving PMD drivers has been reported in many countries where these vehicles have become increasingly popular.

The aim of this study is to extract and analyze national PMD-related accident and injury data reported to the Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition (STRADA) database. The results will provide valuable insight into the risks and obstacles that PMD drivers are exposed to in the traffic environment and may contribute to improving the mobility of this group in the long term.

Methods: The current study is based on data from 743 accidents and 998 persons. An analysis was performed on a subset of data (N?=?301) in order to investigate the development of accidents over a period of 10 years. Thereafter, each accident in the whole data set was registered as either single (N?=?427) or collision (N?=?315).

Results: The results show that there was a 3-fold increase in the number of PMD-related accidents reported to STRADA during the period 2007–2016.

With regard to single accidents, collisions, as well as fatalities, the injury statistics were dominated by males. Single accidents were more common than collisions (N?=?427 and N?=?316, respectively) and the level of injury sustained in each type of accident is on par.

The vast majority of single accidents resulted in the PMD driver impacting the ground (87%), due to either PMD turnover (71%) or the driver falling out of the PMD (16%). The reason for many of the single accidents was a difference in ground level (34%, typically a curb).

Cars, trucks, or buses were involved in 67% of collision events; these occured predominantly at junctions or intersections (70%).

Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 3+ injuries were dominated by hip and head injuries in both single accidents and collision events.

Conclusions: The present study shows that further research on PMD accidents is required, with regard to both single accidents and collision events. To ensure that appropriate decisions are made, future work should follow up on injury trends and further improve the quality of PDM-related accident data. Improved vehicle stability and design, increased usage of safety equipment, proper training programs, effective maintenance services, and development of a supporting infrastructure would contribute to increased safety for PMD drivers.     

An analysis of human factors in fifty controlled flight into terrain aviation accidents from 2007 to 2017

Introduction: Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) account for a considerable amount of fatalities when compared to other accident categories. Human factors are deemed significant contributory causes in these accidents. This paper aims to identify the human factors involved with aviation accidents that resulted in CFIT. Method: The study used the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework to determine the factors involved in 50 CFIT accidents from 24 counties over a 10 year period, i.e. 2007–2017. Interviews with five senior aviation safety experts were used to provide a better comprehension of the human factors affecting the flight safety. Results: The study identified 1289 individual causal and contributory human factors with unsafe actions and preconditions for unsafe actions being the main subcategories of the accidents. The study found that CFIT occur across a range of pilot experience and 44% of accidents occurred in cruise flight. Distraction, complacency and fatigue are all elements that flight crews may experience as contributors to CFIT during cruising. Conclusions: Human factors represent a major component of CFIT accidents. The analysis revealed a similar pattern of contributory and causal human factors across the various flight categories, with some noteworthy isolated variations. The prevalent factors were decision and skill-based errors along with communication, coordination and planning issues. Practical applications: Provision of specific CFIT awareness, pilot training focusing on improved decision-making and revision of basic flight skills, development of specific Global Positioning System routes for transiting high terrain areas are necessary to prevent CFIT accidents. Installation of Terrain Avoidance and Warning System and Ground Proximity Warning System and appropriate equipment training, specific CFIT Crew Resource Management training and improvement of organizational knowledge on the elements involved in CFIT are also recommended.     

Off-road truck-related accidents in U.S. mines

IntroductionOff-road trucks are one of the major sources of equipment-related accidents in the U.S. mining industries. A systematic analysis of all off-road truck-related accidents, injuries, and illnesses, which are reported and published by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), is expected to provide practical insights for identifying the accident patterns and trends in the available raw database. Therefore, appropriate safety management measures can be administered and implemented based on these accident patterns/trends.MethodsA hybrid clustering-classification methodology using K-means clustering and gene expression programming (GEP) is proposed for the analysis of severe and non-severe off-road truck-related injuries at U.S. mines. Using the GEP sub-model, a small subset of the 36 recorded attributes was found to be correlated to the severity level.ResultsGiven the set of specified attributes, the clustering sub-model was able to cluster the accident records into 5 distinct groups. For instance, the first cluster contained accidents related to minerals processing mills and coal preparation plants (91%). More than two-thirds of the victims in this cluster had less than 5 years of job experience. This cluster was associated with the highest percentage of severe injuries (22 severe accidents, 3.4%). Almost 50% of all accidents in this cluster occurred at stone operations. Similarly, the other four clusters were characterized to highlight important patterns that can be used to determine areas of focus for safety initiatives.ConclusionsThe identified clusters of accidents may play a vital role in the prevention of severe injuries in mining. Further research into the cluster attributes and identified patterns will be necessary to determine how these factors can be mitigated to reduce the risk of severe injuries.Practical applicationAnalyzing injury data using data mining techniques provides some insight into attributes that are associated with high accuracies for predicting injury severity.     

Risk of repeat accidents by economic activity in Italy

RationaleThe phenomenon of repeat work-related accidents has not been sufficiently studied.ObjectivesTo evaluate the role of work-related factors in the occurrence of repeat accidents in Italy, using economic activity and the size of the enterprise as proxies and basing the analysis on available administrative data.MethodsThe data, provided by the Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority (INAIL), refer to accidents in the industry and artisan sectors and in the service industry between 1994 and 1999. We selected the data on accidents among 633,735 persons 25–55 years of age with a first accident in 1996–1997, and we determined the occurrence of further accidents within two years in the same economic activity, taking into account job mobility and factors associated with underreporting (geographic area, age, and size of the enterprise). The gender-specific relative risk was computed for each economic activity, given by the ratio between the risk of repeat accidents in a given economic activity and the risk in all of the other activities.ResultsIndividuals with a single accident differed from those with a repeat accident in terms of the distribution by gender, age-class, and severity of injury. The economic activities with the highest relative risk were generally those known to represent a risk of accidents in general: metal ore and coal mining, shipbuilding, the manufacturing of railroad equipment, building construction, road and railway construction, the primary iron and steel industry, foundry work, logging/wood manufacturing, slaughtering, and agriculture. However, certain activities not generally considered as hazardous showed a high risk of repeat accidents (e.g., public hygiene, and the manufacturing of bricks, pottery, and glass).ConclusionsThe epidemiological pattern of repeat accidents by economic activity reflects that of accidents in general, though with exceptions. Results suggest that factors associated with specific technical aspects and production processes are important determinants of safety. The differences between single accidents and repeat accidents by gender, age class, and severity of injury suggest that studying repeat accidents separately from first accidents is quite useful.     

基于TEM模型的民航不安全事件关联规则挖掘与分析*

为了预防民航不安全事件的发生,应用机组威胁与差错管理（TEM）模型分析2014—2020年民航事故/征候的航空安全报告资料,提取事件里存在于民航运行风险中潜在的情况、威胁、机组差错等因素,通过改进的关联规则方法挖掘其中的关联关系,包括挖掘与事件严重程度有关的因素,找到TEM模型中的关键因素和影响航空器结束状态的致因因素,并进行关联网络图分析。研究结果表明:手动操纵/飞行控制差错、缺少/不足的飞行培训和安全管理、飞行员之间沟通差错与程序执行错误是造成事故/征候的显著因素;关联规则能够有效利用航空安全报告信息,通过定量的方法挖掘事故/征候的特征,找到影响民航不安全事件的强关联因素,为民航安全管理人员提供决策依据。     

Under-Reporting of Accidents Involving Biological Material by Nursing Professionals at a Brazilian Emergency Hospital

Background. Pathogens can be transmitted to health professionals after contact with biological material. The exact number of infections deriving from these events is still unknown, due to the lack of systematic surveillance data and under-reporting. Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out, involving 451 nursing professionals from a Brazilian tertiary emergency hospital between April and July 2009. Through an active search, cases of under-reporting of occupational accidents with biological material by the nursing team were identified by means of individual interviews. The Institutional Review Board approved the research project. Results. Over half of the professionals (237) had been victims of one or more accidents (425 in total) involving biological material, and 23.76% of the accidents had not been officially reported using an occupational accident report. Among the under-reported accidents, 53.47% were percutaneous and 67.33% were bloodborne. The main reason for nonreporting was that the accident had been considered low risk. Conclusions. The under-reporting rate (23.76%) was low in comparison with other studies, but most cases of exposure were high risk.     

Applicability of accident analysis methods to Chinese construction accidents

IntroductionIt is necessary to clearly understand construction accidents for preventing a rise in Chinese construction accidents and deaths. Better analysis methods are required for Chinese construction sector accidents.MethodsChoosing and analyzing a typical construction accident based on four popular contemporary accident causation models: STAMP, AcciMap, HFACS, and the 2-4 Model. Then we evaluated the models' applicability to construction accidents, including their usability, reliability, and validity.ResultsSTAMP addressed how complexity within the accident system influenced the accident development, and its output makes the responsibilities clearer for the accident. AcciMap described the entire system's failure, the entire accident's trajectory, and the relationship between them. AcciMap showed that the accident was a dynamic developing process, and this method has a high usability. The taxonomic nature of HFACS is an important feature that provides it with a high reliability. In the accident reviewed here, we found that poor management was a critical factor rather than the individual factor in the accident. The 2-4 Model provided detailed causes of the accident and established the relationship among the accident causes, the safety management system, and the safety culture. It also avoided capturing all of the complexity in the large sociotechnical system and revealed a dynamic analysis and developing process. We confirmed that it has a high usability and validity. Therefore, the 2-4Model is recommended for future Chinese construction accident analysis efforts.Practical ApplicationsThe study provides a useful, reliable, and effective analysis method for Chinese construction accidents.     

Investigation of powered 2-wheeler accident involvement in urban arterials by considering real-time traffic and weather data

Objective: Understanding the various factors that affect accident risk is of particular concern to decision makers and researchers. The incorporation of real-time traffic and weather data constitutes a fruitful approach when analyzing accident risk. However, the vast majority of relevant research has no specific focus on vulnerable road users such as powered 2-wheelers (PTWs). Moreover, studies using data from urban roads and arterials are scarce. This study aims to add to the current knowledge by considering real-time traffic and weather data from 2 major urban arterials in the city of Athens, Greece, in order to estimate the effect of traffic, weather, and other characteristics on PTW accident involvement.

Methods: Because of the high number of candidate variables, a random forest model was applied to reveal the most important variables. Then, the potentially significant variables were used as input to a Bayesian logistic regression model in order to reveal the magnitude of their effect on PTW accident involvement.

Results: The results of the analysis suggest that PTWs are more likely to be involved in multivehicle accidents than in single-vehicle accidents. It was also indicated that increased traffic flow and variations in speed have a significant influence on PTW accident involvement. On the other hand, weather characteristics were found to have no effect.

Conclusions: The findings of this study can contribute to the understanding of accident mechanisms of PTWs and reduce PTW accident risk in urban arterials.     

Assessment of risks posed by chemical industries—application of a new computer automated tool maxcred-III

The paper describes the application of a new computer automated tool, developed by us, in the risk analysis of a typical chemical industry engaged in the manufacture of linear alkyl benzene. Using the tool—a comprehensive software package maxcred-III (MAXimum CREDible accident analysis)—nine different scenarios, one for each storage unit, have been studied. It is observed that the accident scenario for chlorine (instantaneous release followed by dispersion) leads to the largest area-under-lethal-impact, while the accident scenario for propylene (CVCE followed by fireball) forecasts the most intense damage per unit area. The accidents involving propylene, benzene, and fuel oil have a high possibility of causing domino/secondary accidents as their destructive impacts (shock waves, heat load) would envelope other storage and process units.Besides demonstrating the utilizability of maxcred-III, this study also focuses attention on the need to bestow greater effort towards risk assessment/crisis management. The authors hope that the study will highlight the severity of the risk posed by the industry and thus generate safety consciousness among plant managers. The study may also help in developing accident-prevention strategies and the installation of damage control devices.     

Tractor rollover fatalities,analyzing accident scenario

IntroductionIn many countries, traditional data sources for collecting injuries of workers covered by compulsory accident insurance have recently been integrated by new observatories whose results may differ. A comparative analysis of the Italian data collection systems related to fatal tractor accidents in agriculture was performed focusing on tractor rollover fatalities with the aim of analyzing the accident scenario.MethodData from the Operational Archives of the Italian Workers Compensation Authority (INAIL), which collects injuries of workers covered by compulsory accident insurance and those of the National Surveillance System (INAIL_ASL), which provides narrative text reports of work-related fatal accidents have been analyzed and compared to the information collected by the INAIL Observatory. The INAL Observatory was recently set up to complement the collection of fatal accidents involving agricultural machinery. Italian data were then compared to data available at an international level. Fatal tractor accidents vary considerably with respect to fatal accidents in agriculture, being 10.6 and 43.7% for the Operational Archives and Surveillance System, respectively. National Surveillance System records, implemented with narrative texts allowed the accident scenario to be defined.Results71.7% of fatal tractor-related accidents refer to non-ROPS equipped vehicles and of these, 26.5% involved machines originally mounted with a ROPS that had been removed or was inoperative in the folded-down position during the rollover event. Just one fatal event from a collapsed ROPS on the overturned tractor was recorded. It is interesting that 16.6% of fatal accidents involved a clear environmental factor.Practical applicationA campaign to train tractor drivers on the correct use of the combination ROPS and seatbelt can contribute to decreasing rollover events with fatal outcomes. Contemporarily a strict requirement to install ROPS and a seatbelt on tractors, combined to an official inspection at the farm level, can increase the chance of survival in a rollover accident.     

Quantitative risk analysis of urban natural gas pipeline networks using geographical information systems

This paper presents a novel quantitative risk analysis process for urban natural gas pipeline networks using geographical information systems (GIS). The process incorporates an assessment of failure rates of integrated pipeline networks, a quantitative analysis model of accident consequences, and assessments of individual and societal risks. Firstly, the failure rates of the pipeline network are calculated using empirical formulas influenced by parameters such as external interference, corrosion, construction defects, and ground movements. Secondly, the impacts of accidents due to gas leakage, diffusion, fires, and explosions are analyzed by calculating the area influenced by poisoning, burns, and deaths. Lastly, based on the previous analyses, individual risks and social risks are calculated. The application of GIS technology helps strengthen the quantitative risk analysis (QRA) model and allows construction of a QRA system for urban gas pipeline networks that can aid pipeline management staff in demarcating high risk areas requiring more frequent inspections.     

Exploring the factors affecting motorway accident severity in England using the generalised ordered logistic regression model

ProblemThe severity of motorway accidents that occurred on the hard shoulder (HS) is higher than for the main carriageway (MC). This paper compares and contrasts the most important factors affecting the severity of HS and MC accidents on motorways in England.MethodUsing police reported accident data, the accidents that occurred on motorways in England are grouped into two categories (i.e., HS and MC) according to the location. A generalized ordered logistic regression model is then applied to identify the factors affecting the severity of HS and MC accidents on motorways. The factors examined include accident and vehicle characteristics, traffic and environment conditions, as well as other behavioral factors.ResultsResults suggest that the factors positively affecting the severity include: number of vehicles involved in the accident, peak-hour traffic time, and low visibility. Differences between HS and MC accidents are identified, with the most important being the involvement of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and driver fatigue, which are found to be more crucial in increasing the severity of HS accidents.Practical applicationsMeasures to increase awareness of HGV drivers regarding the risk of fatigue when driving on motorways, and especially the nearside lane, should be taken by the stakeholders.     

Incorporating real-time traffic and weather data to explore road accident likelihood and severity in urban arterials

IntroductionThe effective treatment of road accidents and thus the enhancement of road safety is a major concern to societies due to the losses in human lives and the economic and social costs. The investigation of road accident likelihood and severity by utilizing real-time traffic and weather data has recently received significant attention by researchers. However, collected data mainly stem from freeways and expressways. Consequently, the aim of the present paper is to add to the current knowledge by investigating accident likelihood and severity by exploiting real-time traffic and weather data collected from urban arterials in Athens, Greece.MethodRandom Forests (RF) are firstly applied for preliminary analysis purposes. More specifically, it is aimed to rank candidate variables according to their relevant importance and provide a first insight on the potential significant variables. Then, Bayesian logistic regression as well finite mixture and mixed effects logit models are applied to further explore factors associated with accident likelihood and severity respectively.ResultsRegarding accident likelihood, the Bayesian logistic regression showed that variations in traffic significantly influence accident occurrence. On the other hand, accident severity analysis revealed a generally mixed influence of traffic variations on accident severity, although international literature states that traffic variations increase severity. Lastly, weather parameters did not find to have a direct influence on accident likelihood or severity.ConclusionsThe study added to the current knowledge by incorporating real-time traffic and weather data from urban arterials to investigate accident occurrence and accident severity mechanisms.Practical applicationThe identification of risk factors can lead to the development of effective traffic management strategies to reduce accident occurrence and severity of injuries in urban arterials.     

飞行事故概率模型与风险评估方法

以事故统计为基础,建立了飞行事故概率模型与随机过程模型,对飞行安全可靠性指标进行定量评估。根据独立性假设,推导了飞行风险的概率分布,并给出飞行安全重要指标间的关系。假设飞行事故发生是Poisson过程,导出了飞行安全可靠性概率指标的区间估计计算方法。实例计算表明,通过统计量可以对飞行安全进行风险评估,根据飞行事故风险概率等级要求得到评定等级。     

Understanding factors associated with misclassification of fatigue-related accidents in police record

IntroductionFatigue is one of the riskiest causes of traffic accidents threatening road safety. Due to lack of proper criteria, the identification of fatigue-related accidents by police officers largely depends on inferential evidence and their own experience. As a result, many fatigue-related accidents are misclassified and the harmfulness of fatigue on road safety is misestimated.MethodIn this paper, a joint model framework is introduced to analyze factors contributing to misclassification of a fatigue-related accident in police reports. Association rule data mining technique is employed to identify the potential interactions of factors, and logistic regression models are applied to analyze factors that hinder police officers' identification of fatigue-related accidents. Using the fatigue-related crash records from Guangdong Province during 2005–2014, factors contributing to the false positive and false negative detection of the fatigue-related accident have been identified and compared.ResultsSome variables and interactions were identified to have significant impacts on fatigue-related accident detection.ConclusionsBased on the results, it can be inferred that the stereotype of certain groups of drivers, crash types, and roadway conditions affects police officers' judgment on fatigue-related accidents.Practical applicationsThis finding can provide useful information for training police officers and build better criteria for fatigue identification.