Download MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS

Crew Resources
Management
Lecture 9-Stress
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lecture, students should be
able to:
• Understand STRESS
• Describe major causes of stress
• Explain how to manage stress
Outlines
• Definition of stress
• Types of Stress
• Major Causes of Stress
• Symptoms of Stress
• Effect of stress
• How to manage Stress
Major Causes of Human Error in
Aircraft Accidents
Lack of Situational Awareness
Poor Decision Making
Lack of Communication
Lack of Teamwork
Stress
Fatigue
Distracted
Lack of resources, and knowledge
Stress –major contribution to
poor CRM
• In aviation, accidents almost always occur in a sequence
of mistakes.
• Stress is one of the first contributing factors lead into
the rest causing the effect.
• In order to maintain safety in aviation, stress must be
managed to avoid an accident.
• This is where all of human factor studies and hard work
can come into play.
• Depending on what particular job a person is performing
in aviation, they must take steps to avoid undue stress.
• Stress can be avoided by taking steps to relieve other
possible factors.
What is
??
Stress Definition
• Stress can be defined as physical and
physiological tension caused by dealing
with difficult situations.
• Mental, emotional or physical tension,
strain or distress. (Webster, Dictionary)
Stress Definition
• Stress is sum of Biological reactions to our
physical , mental & emotional condition
tends to disturb “Body Natural Balance”
• Stress also defined as a state of highly
unpleasant emotional caused by overload,
fear, anxiety, and anger - all of which
threaten both individual performance and
teamwork.
How much STRESS in your
life??
Cont.
• At first, it is essential to begins by making personal
assessment of stress in all areas of our life.
• We may face:
– Major stressors
• E.g. loss of income, bankrupt, death of a family member,
– Minor stressors
• E.g. Overload in work
• These major and minor stressors have a cumulative
effect which constitutes our total stress adaptation
capability.
Stress Evaluation
Cont.
• The more change you have, the more likely you
are to suffer a decline in health.
• As a Rule of thumb, if you score over 20 checks
mostly in the top half of the checklist, you have
an 80 percent chance of a serious health change.
• If you have about 20 checks distributed over the
checklist you have about a 50 percent chance of
Illness in the near future
Is Stress Bad??
“Stress for Success”
by Dr. Peter Hanson
• Stress not is not a bad thing. A small amount of it
acts as a stimulus and improved your performance.
• A certain amount of stress is good because it keeps
you alert and prevent complacency (too relax).
e.g. Racing driver, Olympic runner, Flight crew, etc.
Stress vs Performance
• Slight stress is good but excessive stress lead to
depression and other bad effects
Stress
• Stress is a term used to describe the body’s
nonspecific response to demands placed on
it, whether these demands are pleasant or
unpleasant in nature.
• The demands of the pilot can range from
unexpected windshear encountered on a
landing to a lost wallet.
Cont.
• Stress in a response to a set of circumstances that
induces a change in a pilot’s current physiological
and/or psychological patterns of functioning forcing the
pilot to adapt to these changes.
• Stress is inevitable and necessary part of life that adds
motivation to life and heightens a pilot response to
meet any challenge.
• Performance will improve with the stress but will peak
and then begin to degrade rapidly as stress levels
exceed a pilot’s adaptive abilities to handle situation.
Performance degrade:
Pilot adaptive abilities in handling situation<level of stress
Pilot Stress
• In aviation, at all phases of flight, pilots are subjected to
different amounts of stress; how they react when
subjected to stress will ultimately make or break
whether the outcome is a safe and successful flight.
• The image below depicts the different amount of
workload and hence stress the pilot faces during the
different phases of flight. Stress/ Workload is highest
during the critical junctures of flight which are taking off
and landing.
Effects of Stress
Effects of stress
As stress happen to the aircrew, it effects on
the cognitive and interpersonal skills
which form the basis of good CRM.
–
–
–
–
–
–
Poor decision making
Loss of situational awareness
Make errors of judgment
Become confused
Unable to cope with increase in workload
Absenteeism from work
• Absenteeism : the practice of regularly staying away from work or
school without good reason.
The effects of Stress
• Can result in:
– Distress & Anxiety
– Oppression
– Affliction
 Body signals:
• Headaches
• Heartburn
• Cramps
• Fatigue
The types of Stress
Types of stress
• Basically there are 2 types of STRESS
 CHRONIC
 ACUTE
 Long term e.g.
 Short term
 Death of some you
 Common
love, medical problem,
 Small dose - thrilling
family break up
& exciting , keep you

Accumulate
stress
alert
day by day, year by
 Training Can help us
year grind
to withstand acute
 If stress remain high &
stress better
cannot be removed –
various sickness sets
in: long lasting
problem
Terribly Stressed?
What are the
major causes of
stress?
MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS
(3Ps stressors)
• Physical Stress- associate with ENVIRONMENT
noise, lack of oxygen, poor visibility, poor
lighting, vibration, temperature.
• Physiological stress- BODY condition e.g.
fatigue, lack of physical fitness, illness
• Psychological Stress– SOCIAL or EMOTIONAL
factors e.g. death in the family, divorce, sick
child, also related to –work overloaded, financial
problem
MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS
Physical Stress
Noise
• Noise levels in a typical cockpit are in the range 75-80 dB.
• Anything above this causes stress and makes it difficult
to concentrate and forces the pilot to have to strain to
hear ATC instructions.
• Noise levels in the hangars are also high due to hangars
situated near aircraft taking off and landing, making it
difficult for maintenance personnel to focus and
concentrate.
MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS
Physical Stress
• Temperature: High temperature causing
overheating of body. Low temperature build up
causes the body to feel cold, weak and drowsy.
• Poor visibility due to heavy fog
• Poor Lightings make it difficult to read technical
data and manuals while working on the aircraft.
• In this situation , we will feel not comfortable
and stress will come out.
MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS
Physiological Stressors
• Not having proper meals also result in not having enough
energy and induces symptoms like headache and shaking.
• Lack of sleep; Fatigued, the pilot is unable to maintain
performance standards for long periods as he struggling to
stay awake.
• Conflicting Shift Schedules affect the body's cycle and lead
to a degradation of performance.
• Working long hours without any break especially at busy
airports when handling multiple aircraft departing and
arriving on intersecting and parallel runways.
• Flying when unwell resulting in the body using more energy
fighting the illness and hence less energy to perform vital
tasks.
MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS
Psychological Stressors
• Financial problems such as impending
bankruptcy and loans and to pay.
• Marital problems due to divorce or strained
relationships due to persistent quarreling.
• Interpersonal problems with superiors and
colleagues due to miscommunication or
perceived competition and backstabbing.
Signs of stress
• Physiological symptoms - such as sweating, dryness
of the mouth.
• Health effects - such as nausea, headaches, sleep
problems, diarrhoea, ulcers.
• Mental effects - such as poor concentration,
indecision, forgetfulness, anxiety, irritability,
depression, moodiness.
• Behavioural symptoms - such as shaking, nervous
laughter, taking longer over tasks, excessive
drinking
How to Manage
Stress
Life-Stress Management
1. Become knowledgeable about stress.
(e.g. effect of stress, sign of stress, causes of stress
etc.)
2. Take a systematic approach to problem solving
3. Develop a life style that will avoid the effects of
stress
4. Establish and maintain a strong support network.
5. Relaxation techniques; Careful regulation of sleep
diet and physical exercise;
Flight Stress Management
• Good flight stress management begins with good life stress management.
• Flight stress management checklist:
1. Avoid distraction
• Avoid situations that distract us from flying the aircraft.
2. Reduce workload
• Reduce our workload to reduce stress levels. This will create a
proper environment in which to make good decisions.
3. Be calm
• If emergency does occur, be calm. Think for a moment, find the
alternatives, then act.
4. Maintain proficiency
•
5.
Proficiency build confidence. Familiarize ourselves thoroughly with the
aircraft, its systems, and emergency procedures.
Know and respect our personal limit
Stress Managements
• If you don’t manage stress, it will
manage YOU!
• STOP burning up emotional energy
• LOOK rationally at the problem
• LISTEN to your rational not emotional
mind
• ACT once you have a plan, do it !
Stress Managements
•
•
•
•
Be sure the solution starts with “I”
Be realistic and practical.
TAKE a BREAK !!
Talk to someone who is not emotionally
involved with the problem.
• Don’t expect miracles......just keep
trying.
STRESS - SUMMARY
•
•
•
•
Stress is Inevitable
2 Types – Acute & Chronic
Stress Effects our Physical & Mental health
Stress affects our situation awareness and our
decision making
• We need to effectively cope with stress to be
efficient
• Training enhances our ability to cope-up with
stress
• Manage stress for health