Citation

Gharib S, Martin B, Neitzel RL. Safety Sci. 2021; 141: e105299.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105299

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Aircraft maintenance workers work in a dynamic and complex environment and may face a variety of occupational hazards. This pilot study was conducted with an international airline in the Middle East to assess occupational safety and health issues at their maintenance base. In this study, volunteer workers in two hangars at an aircraft maintenance base completed a baseline questionnaire on several occupational safety and health factors (e.g., behaviors, injuries, near misses, and safety climate). They also completed two full-shift noise measurements and filled out a diary to report activities, injuries, and near misses on both measurement days. Repeated anonymous observations of workers were made to assess unsafe conditions and behaviors, and area temperature measurements were taken to evaluate potential heat stress. Sixty-four maintenance workers, sixty-three males and one female, volunteered to participate, (range 24-64 years old). Maintenance workers were comprised of engineers, mechanics, and laborers, split evenly between two teams. The overall safety climate score was 3.9 (on a scale of 0-5, with 5 indicating best climate), suggesting a relatively strong safety climate. However, participants indicated that they had not received safety or emergency response training. Observations showed that engineers faced ergonomic hazards and did not use personal protective equipment, while mechanics faced ergonomic and fall hazards, and laborers faced more chemical hazards. Mechanics and engineers had safety climate scores that were lower than laborers. Roughly 40% of 125 noise measurements exceeded the recommended 85 dBA Threshold Limit Value (TLV) recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, and the recommended 28 °C TLV for Heat Stress was routinely exceeded in one of the hangars. The most common issues identified through 310 hazard observations were ergonomic and fall hazards and failure to use personal protective equipment. The 5 reported near misses and injuries were associated with ergonomic, fall, housekeeping, and communication issues, and high noise above 85 dBA was present during 80% of these events. Our results suggest that improvements in safety training, noise and heat stress management, and use of personal protective equipment are warranted at the facility.

Language: en

Keywords

Aircraft maintenance; Ergonomics; Heat; Injuries; Noise; Occupational safety