Controllers to get extra hour to rest
Source: Agencies |
April 19, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
US air traffic controllers will get an extra hour off between shifts so they don't doze off at work, but officials have rejected another proposed remedy: on-the-job napping.
"On my watch, controllers will not be paid to take naps. We're not going to allow that," said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
That's exactly the opposite of what scientists and the Federal Aviation Administration's own fatigue working group said was needed, even before the five cases of sleeping controllers that have been disclosed since late March.
The latest one occurred just before 5am last Saturday at a busy regional radar facility that handles high altitude air traffic for much of Florida, portions of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Several other countries, including Germany and Japan, permit controllers to take sleeping breaks and they provide quiet rooms with cots for that purpose.
"Given the body of scientific evidence, that decision clearly demonstrates that politics remain more important than public safety," said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation of Alexandria, Virginia. "People are concerned about a political backlash if they allow controllers to have rest periods in their work shifts the same way firefighters and trauma physicians do."
It has been an open secret in the US Federal Aviation Administration dating to at least the early 1990s that controllers sometimes sleep on the job. The toughest are the midnight shifts, which usually begin about 10pm and end about 6am.
Scientists say it would be surprising if controllers didn't doze sometimes because they are trying to stay awake during the time of day when the body naturally craves sleep.
Studies show that 30 percent to 50 percent of night-shift workers report falling asleep at least once a week while on the job, according to Dr. Charles Czeisler, chief of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Six of eight present and former controllers interviewed by The Associated Press acknowledged they briefly fell asleep while working alone at night at least once in their careers.
Much more common is taking a nap on purpose, they said. On midnight shifts, one controller will work two positions while the other one sleeps and then they switch off, controllers said. The arrangements sometimes allow controllers to sleep as much as three hours or four hours out of an eight-hour shift, they said.
The Federal Aviation Administration doesn't allow controllers to sleep at work, even during breaks. Controllers who are caught can be suspended or fired.
The new rules will give controllers at least nine hours off between shifts, compared with eight now.
"On my watch, controllers will not be paid to take naps. We're not going to allow that," said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
That's exactly the opposite of what scientists and the Federal Aviation Administration's own fatigue working group said was needed, even before the five cases of sleeping controllers that have been disclosed since late March.
The latest one occurred just before 5am last Saturday at a busy regional radar facility that handles high altitude air traffic for much of Florida, portions of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Several other countries, including Germany and Japan, permit controllers to take sleeping breaks and they provide quiet rooms with cots for that purpose.
"Given the body of scientific evidence, that decision clearly demonstrates that politics remain more important than public safety," said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation of Alexandria, Virginia. "People are concerned about a political backlash if they allow controllers to have rest periods in their work shifts the same way firefighters and trauma physicians do."
It has been an open secret in the US Federal Aviation Administration dating to at least the early 1990s that controllers sometimes sleep on the job. The toughest are the midnight shifts, which usually begin about 10pm and end about 6am.
Scientists say it would be surprising if controllers didn't doze sometimes because they are trying to stay awake during the time of day when the body naturally craves sleep.
Studies show that 30 percent to 50 percent of night-shift workers report falling asleep at least once a week while on the job, according to Dr. Charles Czeisler, chief of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Six of eight present and former controllers interviewed by The Associated Press acknowledged they briefly fell asleep while working alone at night at least once in their careers.
Much more common is taking a nap on purpose, they said. On midnight shifts, one controller will work two positions while the other one sleeps and then they switch off, controllers said. The arrangements sometimes allow controllers to sleep as much as three hours or four hours out of an eight-hour shift, they said.
The Federal Aviation Administration doesn't allow controllers to sleep at work, even during breaks. Controllers who are caught can be suspended or fired.
The new rules will give controllers at least nine hours off between shifts, compared with eight now.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
