Organizational Factors

 Organizational Factors

By OffRoadPilots

When identifying contributing factors and root causes, an SMS enterprise considers human factors, supervision factors, organizational factors, and environmental factors. Organizational factors is more than how business structure of an organization, it is about how the organizational structure affect policies, processes, procedures, acceptable work practices, within the organization of the certificate.

Organizational factors are how organizations apply crew resource management to flight crew, maintenance personnel, and airport airside personnel. Crew resource management is commonly known to be used as a tool for pilots to maintain performance levels, but these principles are also suitable for airport airside personnel. Airside personnel must also

uphold a high level of integrity, and acceptable performance levels.

At large international airports, with high aircraft movements, there are time limits for how long runways, taxiways or aprons may be closed for unscheduled maintenance or activities. Crew resource management (CRM) is not to push personnel to complete tasks in an unreasonable fashion, but it is to perform tasks as expected within an assigned timeframe. This timeframe must be applicable to the task itself, and not applied as an assigned computer model for expected time. The time it takes to complete a job must include the time it takes to work within common cause variations. Common cause variations are normal variations to be expected. When driving to work daily, a common cause variation is the volume of traffic. One day it might take 30 minutes, and another day it takes 50 minutes because of traffic. A common cause variation for runway edge light maintenance is the time it takes to travel from one light to the next. This will vary every time. If crew resource management excludes common cause variations, it is not crew resource management, but micromanagement of personnel.

Organizational factors at an airport is an organization, and how this organization within the airport certificate, and the airport operations manual (AOM). Tasks conducted outside of this organization and non-airport tasks and are not required for operations. An example of a task outside of an AOM organization is to perform maintenance on access roads to the airport terminal that are outside of the airport perimeters.

An organizational crew resource management process includes seven components. CRM components are priority management, communication, comprehension, pressure, stress and fatigue, workload management, decision making, and recording and reporting.

Priority management for airside personnel to recognize priorities within their environment and to interpret cues, then discuss and select the appropriate action as appropriate.

Communication for airside personnel to communicate with clear, specific, and unambiguous communication, both verbally and written.

Comprehension for airside personnel is to comprehend the system in a 3D environment measured in time, space, and compass. Time is current and approaching time, space is current and approaching geographical location, and compass is current direction and approaching direction of travel.

Pressure, stress, and fatigue are how to respond to pressure (real or perceived) and the ability to distinguish between pressure and stress. Applying checklists and standard operating procedures are tools for pressure and stress management. The difference between pressure and stress is that stress can be defined as the internal resistive force to upcoming, or unexpected tasks, while pressure can be defined as the amount of perceived, or physical force applied to complete upcoming or unexpected tasks. Communication of progress is a tool for pressure and stress management. Accepting the current status of job performance is a tool for pressure and stress management. An SMS enterprise operating with a conforming safety management system, has developed and implemented a non-punitive reporting policy to reduce pressure, stress and fatigue. Pressure and stress are contributing factors for fatigue, and fatigue is a contributing factor for incidents and accidents.

Workload management is goal setting and time management. The airside rundown system is a workload tool for airside personnel to manage operational tasks. Workloads management is also to prioritize multiple blocks of acceptable work- load tasks. During an emergency at the airport, workload management and prioritizing tasks becomes vital for successful airport operations.

Decision making is a process, and there are 7 steps in a successful decision-making process. A decision is a job performance decision, and a decision based on past airside experience, training received, airport operations flow, airport operations conforming to regulatory requirements or reactions vital to avoid hazards, incidents, or accidents. Airside decision making is not to invent new processes, but to apply current processes. New process suggestions are submitted as hazard reports, or as directive by the accountable executive.

Identify the problem or opportunity. The first step in making the right decision is recognizing the problem or opportunity and deciding to address it.

Decision making process step 2.
Gather information to make a decision based on facts and data.

Decision making process step 3.
Identify alternatives. Once the issue, or hazard is comprehended, it’s time to identify the various solutions.

Decision making process step 4. Weigh the evidence.

Decision making process step 5.
Choose among alternatives. Conduct a risk assessment to comprehend what direct risks, and residual risks are involved. This also includes an on-the-spot informal, or metal risk assessment if a decision was already implemented.

Decision making process step 6.
Take action. Create a corrective action plan for implementation.

Decision making process step 7.
Review, monitor and evaluate the implementation for effectiveness.

An example of a decision-making process is if the driver of an airside vehicle on the ramp observes an aircraft is taxiing on the ramp, towards their position. A decision to be made is to stay or move. In a similar scenario, an airside vehicle driver is in a vehicle on the ramp and observes an aircraft is parked with the engine running. The driver has an urgent task to be completed and the common vehicle route is to drive in front of where the aircraft is parked. A decision to be made is to wait for aircraft to taxi or take an alternate route.

Recording and reporting is to record findings on the daily inspection form, or on an electronic device. Paper forms are still circulating but are slowly disappearing. Report recordings to the safety management system.

Within the organizational environment of airport operators is the daily inspection process. A daily inspection may be performed several times per day. Inspections are pursuant to the schedule in the airport operations manual. The AOM is the organization in which airport operations lives. There are generally three responsibilities positions at an airport. These are the airfield maintainer, who maintains the airport to compliance level with airport standards. The next level is the airport manager, who is responsible for airport operations manual maintenance, process assignments, and monitor daily for airport regulations and standards compliance. The oversight level is the airport general manager, who also is an accountable executive (AE) and responsible on behalf of the certificate holder to maintain compliance with a required regulations.

An airport certificate is its own organization since a certificate is issued to a land- parcel, as opposed to a person. The certificate holder is the person who manages and administers airport certificate tasks and actions. The certificate holder is person who most likely is a member of the airport authority and their organization. A certificate holder may also be a third-party contractor, in which that person has the final authority in airport decisions.

When analyzing the effect of organizational factors, both the certificate organization, (if airside standards conform), and the airport authority organization, (if the airport authority organizational flow supports required activities under the certificate). Simplified, just as an aircraft within its own environment, or organizational flow must maintain compliance with all components and functional requirements, an airport certificate must comply with its own surveyed, determined, recorded, and reported compliance factors within its own environment or organization.

Airport operations is more complex than any other functions in aviation. An airport operator must have comprehensive knowledge of airport operations itself, must have operational knowledge of air navigation services, and must be familiar with all types of aircraft operations. An airport operations manual is the organization that contains all airport operations functions.

The AOM is a document that describes the airport organization, and is a document that describes physical characteristics, or the layout, describes airside operations plans, is approved by the airport operator (AE) and the regulatory, is a legal reference document, describes who is in the administration, the largest aircraft that can use the airport, and hours of operations.

The AOM describes the organizational chart, line of authority and line of reporting. Since the work a contractor does affects the accountable executive’s responsibilities, regulatory compliance and safety performance, a contractor is a like-employee person. The AOM lists documents, manuals and guidance material that must be available for airport operations, audits, and regulatory inspections.

The airport obstacle limitation surfaces (OLS), or maximum heights of structure is controlled by airport zoning regulations and incorporated by reference in the AOM. The AOM describes the airport organization and level of authority, it describes the airport organization and level of authority, describes airport lighting systems, describes runways identified by numbers, taxiway identified by letters, excluding the letter X, and aprons by Roman numerals. An AOM describes markers (elevated above ground) and markings (displayed on the ground surface) and describes airport facilities (may be outside of airport lands) and airside services, and more. It is a prerequisite to assess and define applicable organizational factors within an AOM prior to assessing a root cause how airport authority organizational factors affected the outcome. If the systems within the AOM are not identified, the root cause and corrective action plan may be incorrectly assigned.

Human factors and organizational factors are closely related, with a defined difference. The difference is that human factors is about human reactions to inputs, and organizational factors are the climate, or culture environment imposed on personnel.

Human error is a symptom, not the cause, it is a starting point in root cause analysis, not the conclusion, and it is a symptom of trouble deeper inside an organizational system.

Organizational factors to consider in a root cause analysis are SMS policies, processes, procedures, and acceptable work practices. Organizational climate, structure, chain of command, delegation of authority, communication, accountability, policies, culture, just-culture and more. Assign a weight score between 1 and 4 to each factor and to each one of the 5-Ws + How. The factor with the highest weight score is assigned as the root cause factor and the factor where the CAP needs to be applied. If two weight scores are equal, apply the highest “Why” score as the determining factor.

Just as the square root of a number is defined as the value, which gives the number when it is multiplied by itself, an incident root cause is the value, identified by a number, which is most likely to quadruple in value when the same incident happens one additional time.

When organizational factors are determined to be the highest root cause probability, a corrective action plan must address the current organizational system in both the operational system, and airport or airline authority certificate system.

OffRoadPilots