Human Factors in Aircraft Maintenance

Vocabulary flashcards covering core human factors concepts, error classifications, safety models, cognitive processes, and the Dirty Dozen in aviation maintenance.

Human Factors

The study of people in their working and living environments, their relationship with equipment, procedures, and the environment, as well as their relationships with other people, aiming to optimize performance with twin objectives of safety and efficiency.

Active Failures

Failures caused by individuals in direct contact with the system, such as engineers working directly on an aircraft.

Latent Failures

Failures deriving from decisions made by supervisors and managers who are separated in both time and space from the physical system.

SHELL Model

A human factors model representing Software, Hardware, Environment, and Liveware, where the match or mismatch between blocks (interfaces) can be a source of human error.

PEEP Model

British Airways' human factors framework focusing on the interfaces and integration between the engineer and Paperwork, Environment, Equipment, and People.

Reason's Swiss Cheese Model

A systemic safety model where organizational defenses are represented as slices of cheese, arrows represent errors, and holes represent inadequate defenses through which errors can pass.

Slips

Errors defined as actions not carried out as intended or planned, such as transposing digits, which typically appear at the execution stage of a process.

Lapses

Errors defined as missed actions or omissions caused by memory or attention failures, such as forgetting to close and secure an oil cap.

Mistakes

Errors brought about by a faulty plan or intention, where an action is performed believing it to be correct when it is wrong, typically occurring during planning.

Violations

Deliberate, illegal actions where an individual knowingly acts against rules or procedures, such as taking shortcuts to complete a job on time.

Murphy's Law

A popular saying stating that things will go wrong in any given situation if given a chance, or whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

Selective Attention

The process of monitoring several sources of input while allocating primary concentration to one or more specific sources, also known as the cocktail party effect.

Divided Attention

The requirement to perform more than one task at the same time, also referred to as time sharing.

Focused Attention

The skill of concentrating mental effort on a single source while successfully avoiding distractions.

Sustained Attention

The ability to maintain attention and remain alert over long periods of time, often required for monitoring or inspection tasks.

Perception

The organization and interpretation of sensory data to make it meaningful, drawing on existing knowledge and experience to retain or discard data.

Ultra Short-Term Memory

Sensory storage used as a buffer to process sensory input, lasting up to $2\,\text{seconds}$.

Short-Term Memory

Working memory that stores $5$ to $9$ items ($7 \pm 2$) for a short duration, typically $10$ to $20\,\text{seconds}$.

Long-Term Memory

A memory storage system with unlimited capacity used to store information, experiences, and skills that are not currently in active use.

Semantic Memory

A portion of long-term memory that stores general, factual knowledge, concepts, language, and rules not drawn from personal experience.

Episodic Memory

A portion of long-term memory containing recall of specific events and personal past experiences contextualized in time and space.

Situation Awareness

An individual's cognitive perception and awareness of their current environment, status, and surrounding events.

Claustrophobia

An abnormal or extreme fear of being in an enclosed space.

Acrophobia

An extreme, pathological fear of heights belonging to a category of specific phobias called space and motion discomfort.

Organizational Culture

The distinct and established ways of doing things within a specific company or organization.

Group Polarisation

The tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial positions of individual group members.

Risky Shift

A form of group polarisation where a group collective arrives at a course of action that is significantly riskier than what any individual member would choose.

Social Loafing

The tendency for individuals to exert less effort on a task when they believe their efforts are pooled with other group members.

The Dirty Dozen

Twelve major human factors for aircraft maintenance proficiency: Lack of Communication, Complacency, Lack of Knowledge, Distraction, Lack of Teamwork, Fatigue, Lack of Resources, Pressure, Lack of Assertiveness, Stress, Lack of Awareness, and Norms.

Acute Fatigue

Short-duration physical or mental fatigue that can be cured with a good night's sleep.

Chronic Fatigue

Severe physical or mental fatigue that accumulates over a prolonged period of time.

Norms

Unapproved operational practices that are not part of official procedures but have been carried out locally long enough to become accepted routine.