The best way to avoid accidents and ensure quality aircraft maintenance is to plan. Frequent employee safety training is the best way to educate your crew and keep them vigilant.

1. Review Risk Management Practices: When on the job, employees should do their best to keep their mind clear of distractions and anything that will take attention away from their work. Remind your crew that it’s a good idea to double check even simple maintenance tasks to make sure not to forget anything.

2. Follow the Appropriate Procedures: Maintenance technicians should always follow approved data and procedures when performing any maintenance operation. 

3. Use Safety Signs: Clearly-displayed signs that remind technicians to adhere to basics — like wearing a safety harness when working on top of wings and fuselages — is both a cost-effective and consistent method of pushing safety to the forefront of your team’s mind. 

4. Ensure Team Communication is Effective: By regularly holding safety meetings and bringing up safety issues whenever you communicate important information to your personnel, you’ll go a long way toward being proactive instead of reactive. 

5. Be Prepared for the Worst: From clearly marked eyewash units and first aid kits to fire suppression equipment and emergency exits, you must be ready to respond to accidents when they happen. Make sure all members of your team — from the most senior to the most junior — are fully trained in the use of emergency equipment,— In an emergency, every second counts.

USE THE RIGHT AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS TO REDUCE INJURY

1. Use Protective Equipment: Aircraft have many sharp edges and moving parts as well as hazardous fuels and other toxic liquids. This is why stressing the regular and consistent use of personal protective equipment is number one on this list.

Safety goggles, hearing protection, sturdy clothing and even breathing apparatuses must be used by technicians whenever appropriate.

2. Use Respiratory Protection: Everyone should take proper precaution, especially when working on landing gear sections and brake replacement. These areas contain asbestos and can contribute to the development of asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma. 

3. Use Aircraft Maintenance Equipment: Giving employees the right ground support equipment is just as crucial to safety and efficiency. Safe access to a work area is essential for any maintenance job, and aircraft maintenance stands are the only solution for aviation work. They provide mechanics with secure access to even the most awkward areas. 

4. Use the Right Tools: It’s important for employees know that it’s better to inform about the need for a tool rather than try to get the job done without it, as improvising can lead to a compromised aircraft.

5. Return Tools to Their Storage Areas: When your technicians complete a work day or a task, return all tools to their proper storage areas. A checklist for all tools is needed for a task so that they can be accounted for when they are put away, or at least the mechanics can consult the list to ensure they don’t leave anything where it shouldn’t be.

One tool that has no substitute is a fire extinguisher — one should always be easily accessible for your technicians. While this one is obvious, too often the fire extinguisher is out of reach or nonexistent. For personal safety and for protection of valuable assets, everyone needs easy access to fire prevention tools.

KEEP AIRCRAFT TECHNICIANS HEALTHY AND SAFE

Here are steps to take to maximize safety caused by employee fatigue and complacency.

1. Daily Limits: Make sure your employees don’t work for too long for on any one shift. Working overtime is necessary sometimes, but it should be kept to a minimum if possible. There is a 37 percent increase in the chance for injury when an employee works more than 12 hours. Not only does fatigue start to set in, but complacency and lack of concentration which can lead to mistakes and counter-productive work. 

2. Limit the Number of Night Shifts: The more time employees spend working at night or irregular hours, the more chance they will have for decreased concentration and accidents. Compared to daytime shifts, injury and accident rates are 30 percent higher during night shifts. They are also 18 percent higher during evening shifts.

3. Breaks: The longer an employee goes without a break the more likely they are to make mistakes with detail-oriented and sensitive work like aircraft maintenance. Try to schedule adequate breaks for all employees.

4. Set Multi-Day Limits: Working several days in a row, even with proper breaks within the workday can take a mental and physical toll. Allow employees to take days off as necessary and use vacation days to recharge.

5. Communicate: It comes down to employees. They may not always feel comfortable voicing their concerns, so it’s always good to make sure they feel healthy, well-equipped and well protected.

FINAL WORD

Maintenance errors account for a significant portion of failure or malfunction of aircraft equipment. This can be traced to human conditions such as lack of motivation, fatigue, stress, time pressures, medical problems and misperception of hazards.