There’s not going to be a duty time rule for ramp workers any time soon. Pilot flight and duty time rules took three years from the crash of Colgan in Buffalo in February of 2009 to finally get promulgated – and fatigue may well have played a role in the errors by the crew that fateful night. Duty time rules for mechanics have stalled completely. So, in the aviation scheme of things ramp operations are unfortunately on the bottom of the aviation safety totem pole.
And I do mean “unfortunately.” Ramp operations can have a direct impact on safety and fatigue in ramp workers can cause human errors just as fatigue in the cockpit or on the hangar floor can. More and more, however, the issue of human factors is focused on fatigue management. And a large part of that focus is on training workers to avoid their own fatigue and to recognize and mitigate it before it causes problems.
So while we can’t expect a duty time rule for ramp workers any time soon – or ever – we can certainly make them aware of the relationship between fatigue and mistakes. And give them time before or after work to review fatigue training countermeasures prepared by the FAA. While focused on maintenance workers, the training is valuable for all employees. And best of all, it’s well done and it’s free.
A link to the training can be found at: https://hfskyway.faa.gov/Fatigue/Flash/FatigueFlash.swf.
