Human Factors in Maintenance 
 

Surveys reveal the importance of regulations mandating human factors programs.  
 

By William B. Johnson, Ph.D., and Carla Hackworth, Ph.D. 
 
 

Despite the existence of human factors programs in aviation maintenance since the late 1980s, such programs are not required throughout the world, and those that do exist are far from standardized. In 2006 and 2007, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducted two large-scale surveys that gave the international maintenance community and FAA aviation safety inspectors (ASIs) an opportunity to report progress and identify the human factors issues that need immediate attention. High response rates and frank answers to the surveys gave a clear view of the status and showed the direction future work should take. 
 

During the 1980s, many flight organizations were enhancing safety by adopting cockpit resource management (CRM) programs.  Flight crews were finding means to ensure and improve safety by focusing on teamwork, communication and developing operating procedures.  The term evolved to become “crew” resource management and expanded to include a variety of human factors that affect performance and safety, such as fitness for duty, fatigue, nutrition and health, safety culture and much more. There is no question that CRM has improved the safety of flight.   
 

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