Long Term Effects of Fatigue in the Workplace and how to Mitigate them

With increased numbers in air traffic and increased complexity in operations, the pressure on air traffic controllers is growing. This pressure is accelerated by the fact that many ANSPs are struggling to attract new Air Traffic Controllers, meaning we increasingly must do more work with less staff. Air Traffic controllers must handle high stakes operations, where even the smallest mistake can have catastrophic consequences. The long-term wellbeing of air traffic controllers is at risk if we don’t take measures to actively and continuously manage fatigue in our operations. The risks of chronic fatigue are not well known for many organisations and may pose a risk to the safety and resilience of our operations.

Session Objectives:
• Share and learn what ANSPs are doing to manage fatigue and explore some best practice examples from the panellists
• Talk about whether rulemaking is helping up manage and mitigate controller fatigue and whether current rules are sufficient
• Understand the scientific and medical aspects of fatigue and especially chronic fatigue