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Alertness management in 24/7 settings: lessons from aviation.
Mark R Rosekind1, John N Boyd, Kevin B Gregory
1Alertness Solutions, 20111 Stevens Creek Boulevard, Suite 280, Cupertino, CA 95014, USA.
Occupational Medicine (Philadelphia, Pa.)
|March 2, 2002
Summary
Continuous operations challenge human operators, causing fatigue from sleep loss and circadian disruption. Effective alertness management and cultural change are crucial for safety and performance in 24/7 settings.
Area of Science:
- Human physiology
- Operational psychology
- Aerospace medicine
Background:
- Round-the-clock operations present significant physiological challenges for human operators.
- Fatigue, stemming from sleep loss and circadian disruption, impairs safety, performance, and alertness.
- NASA research in aviation highlights the impact of fatigue on real-world operations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the physiological factors underlying operator fatigue.
- To demonstrate the effects of fatigue on aviation operations using NASA research.
- To propose a comprehensive alertness management approach to mitigate fatigue-related risks.
Main Methods:
- Review of physiological factors contributing to fatigue.
- Analysis of case studies and research from NASA's aviation settings.
- Development of an alertness management framework.
Main Results:
- Fatigue significantly degrades operator safety, performance quality, and alertness.
- A multi-component approach including education, strategies, scheduling, policy, and sleep is effective.
- Cultural shifts are necessary to foster fatigue-reducing practices.
Conclusions:
- Addressing fatigue requires a holistic alertness management strategy.
- Implementing educational, strategic, scheduling, policy, and sleep interventions is vital.
- Promoting a culture that prioritizes safety and reduces fatigue is essential for 24/7 operations.