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personal anecdote > anything else
Why am I not shocked to see the Congressman that doesn't seem to accept the science just *happened* to be a Republican?
WASHINGTON – The best solution to the problem of sleepy air traffic controllers is more sleeping on the job, scientists say.
But that would be a radical change for the Federal Aviation Administration. Current regulations forbid sleeping at work, even during breaks. Controllers who are caught can be suspended or fired.
Experts say that kind of thinking is outdated.
"There should be sanctioned on-shift napping. That's the way to handle night shift work," said Gregory Belenky, a sleep expert at Washington State University in Spokane. There are plenty of other scientists in the U.S. and around the world who agree with him. Sleep studies show that nighttime workers who are allowed "recuperative breaks" are more alert when they return to their tasks.
A working group on controller fatigue made up of officials from the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents controllers, recently embraced that position as well.
The issue has taken on a new urgency in the wake of four recent episodes in which the FAA says controllers fell asleep while on duty. The most recent case occurred this week when the pilot of a plane transporting a critically ill passenger was unable to raise the sole controller working at 2 a.m. in the tower of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada.
The FAA said the controller was out of communication for 16 minutes. Controllers at a regional radar facility in California assisted the plane, which landed safely.
The episodes have sent administration officials scrambling to assure the public and angry members of Congress that air travel is indeed safe. Even President Barack Obama weighed in, telling ABC News in an interview, "We've got it under control," and warning controllers they must stay alert and do their jobs.
"The fact is when you're responsible for the lives and safety of people up in the air, you better do your job," he said in an interview Friday with "Good Morning America."
Republicans in the House want to cut FAA's budget by $4 billion over the next 3 1/2 years, but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that won't prevent the agency from adding more controllers if that's what's necessary.
"We can't let money stand in the way of safety," he told NBC's "Today." "And we will work with Congress making sure we have the resources, we have the right number of controllers."
In fact, the FAA and the controllers union — with assistance from NASA and the Mitre Corp., among others — has come up with 12 recommendations for tackling sleep-inducing fatigue among controllers. Among those recommendations is that the FAA change its policies to give controllers on midnight shifts as much as two hours to sleep plus a half-hour to wake up.
That would mark a profound change from current regulations that can make sleeping controllers subject to suspension or dismissal.
Yet, at most air traffic facilities, it's common for two controllers working together at night to engage in unsanctioned sleeping swaps whereby one controller works two jobs while the other controller naps and then they switch off, present and former controllers told The Associated Press. The controllers requested not to be named because they didn't want jeopardize their jobs or co-workers' jobs.
More than two decades ago, NASA scientists concluded that airline pilots were more alert and performed better during landings when they were allowed to take turns napping during the cruise phase of flights. The FAA chose to ignore recommendations that U.S. pilots be allowed "controlled napping." But other countries, using NASA's research, have adopted such policies for their pilots.
Several countries — including France, Germany, Canada and Australia — also permit napping by controllers during breaks in their work shifts, said Peter Gimbrere, who heads the controllers association's fatigue mitigation effort. Germany even provides controllers sleep rooms with cots, he said.
Sleep scientists long have known that fatigue affects human behavior much like alcohol, slowing reaction times and eroding judgment. People suffering from fatigue sometimes focus on a single task while ignoring other, more urgent needs.
One of the working group's findings was that the level of fatigue created by several of the shift schedules worked by 70 percent of the FAA's 15,700 controllers can have an impact on behavior equivalent to a blood-alcohol level of.04, Gimbrere said. That's half the legal driving limit of .08.
"There is a lot of acute fatigue in the controller work force," he said.
Controllers are often scheduled for a week of midnight shifts followed by a week of morning shifts and then a week swing shifts, a pattern that sleep scientists say interrupts the body's natural sleep cycles.
Another common schedule compresses five eight-hour work shifts as close together as possible while still allowing controllers eight hours off in between each shift. The advantage is that controllers then get three days off at the end. But the shift is known as the "rattler" because controllers say it doubles back and bites those who work it.
One recommendation by the working group would require at least nine hours off between shifts instead of the current eight. Another would allow controllers to sleep during the 20-minute to 30-minute breaks they typically receive while working daytime shifts. Now, they can watch TV, play cards, have a snack — but not sleep.
The recommendations were presented to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt in January. The agency is still is reviewing them, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.
But paying controllers who nap at work may be a tough sell in Congress. One influential lawmaker said building in time to sleep on the job is unacceptable.
"I think that is totally bogus," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told the AP. "There are so many professions that have to work long hours. I was greeted this morning by a young surgeon that had been working all night in an ER."
Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va., and a former air traffic controller, disagreed.
"It's not outrageous to have people in a safety job rest on duty," Voss said, citing ER doctors and firefighters who have similar practices.
"What is crazy," Voss said, "is putting two people onto a shift in a dark room with no noise and telling them to stare out a window and do nothing for eight hours, but to never fall asleep."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110415/...ic_controllers
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Given that the scientists who study this equate fatigue with drinking, I'm not sure I would be all that happy with a surgeon working on 4 hours of sleep.
personal anecdote > anything else
That really struck me. Simply because people do it, doesn't mean its safe.
"why the guy who drove me home the other day was drunk off his ass."
It's alot cheaper than hiring more people to cover smaller shifts, or hiring another person to cover the shift with the worker.
Also, switching from days to swings to mids weekly is a horrible, horrible schedule.
there's been quite a few studies how naps INCREASE productivity and alertness. But don't let science get in the way of believing personal anecdotes.
Science RG, really science......
God forbid these FEW (what are we talking about here, they gave 1 example and the pilot/plane landed safely) get some sleep like normal people do before going to work. C'mon now. Get real with this garbage. Paying traffic controllers to take naps. You have to be one big pussy asking the tax payers for this. lol
What do you mean by this in context with the publication?
They already get paid breaks, dumbass.
Actually Jack, it's happened twice now recently. Also, if you look at the schedules of traffic controllers, they're not a 'normal' 9-5 job. Plus, the stress level is comparable to other jobs in which people take naps.
lol normal
Not for sleeping, dumbass.
I think this is a prime example of someone's need to be judgemental trumps reason.Experts say that kind of thinking is outdated.
"There should be sanctioned on-shift napping. That's the way to handle night shift work," said Gregory Belenky, a sleep expert at Washington State University in Spokane. There are plenty of other scientists in the U.S. and around the world who agree with him. Sleep studies show that nighttime workers who are allowed "recuperative breaks" are more alert when they return to their tasks..
This isn't some dayjob, this is 24/7 job that has to be staffed at a time the human body thinks it should be sleeping.
I could give a if our tax dollars pay critical personnel to be sleeping for 15-20 minutes if it makes them more alert and less prone to making mistakes that could literally cost lives.
That's nothing. I have 4 jobs.
There is a bit more to this story then employees taking cat naps on the job."We can't let money stand in the way of safety," he told NBC's "Today." "And we will work with Congress making sure we have the resources, we have the right number of controllers."
Do you think you're performing at peak efficiency at each job?
Without question. I'm normal.
Sleeping through an entire shift is not what we are talking about.
It is someone alone in a control tower dozing off for 15 minutes.
Did I miss something?
with 4 jobs? working at night?
hours/day? /week?
Of course you did and I think you did it on purpose. For the few that want to take cat naps at work, I suggest they get more sleep before getting to work. This is not a widespread problem. This is an individual problem.
Last edited by jack sommerset; 04-15-2011 at 04:42 PM.
Sorry jack, I will take the word of the guys with the PhD's over your moralistic judgmentalism.Experts say that kind of thinking is outdated.
"There should be sanctioned on-shift napping. That's the way to handle night shift work," said Gregory Belenky, a sleep expert at Washington State University in Spokane. There are plenty of other scientists in the U.S. and around the world who agree with him. Sleep studies show that nighttime workers who are allowed "recuperative breaks" are more alert when they return to their tasks..
Hand-wavy "they just need more sleep before work" dismissals ring hollow when people who study it for a living say otherwise.
RG, this is not problem so no need to be sorry. A few people can't hack the job. Get rid of them and move on. No need to hire more traffic controllers and/or allow them to sleep durning work hours just replace the few that can't stay awake for those midnight shifts. Problem solved!
Isn't Air Traffic Controller one of THE highest paying jobs for people without college degrees? If these gentlemen can't stay awake, I'm sure there are millions of people right now who would make the sacrifice for a paycheck.
This would also work, but that is of course why it must be illegal.
Why would the human body think it needs sleep if it just woke up from an 8+ hour nap during the day? Cops/911 operators/etc do it every night. Just because some fatass can't sit on his ass for 8 hours without falling asleep does not mean you have to throw more money at the problem.
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