Stress and fatigue have been for a long time an issue of concern among stakeholders in the aviation industry. As noted by Earl et al., Stress is a feeling or condition that an individual experiences when he perceives that the demands of a particular duty exceed both the personal and the social resources that and individually is capable of mobilizing to enhance efficiency in the workplace (5). On the other hand, fatigue is a temporary condition in which an individual is unable to respond to various situations due to physical, emotion or mental exhaustion. In the aviation industry, there are three sources of stress to pilots which include psychological, environmental and physiological stress factors. Pilots have usually exposed to the stressing conditions during the related work experiences while on the ground. Also, professional pilots experience stressful conditions while in flight or while attending to personal matters as a result of the influence of their profession.
According to LeSagas et al. the work of a professional pilot is always extremely stressful as a result of the heavy responsibilities which include ensuring the safety of the passengers that they are transporting around the globe and the heavy workloads that come with the responsibility of enhancing the safety of the pilot and the clients (8).
A study by Earl et al. highlights that it is imperative for the managers in the aviation industry to develop strategies that can help in minimizing stressful conditions in the airline industry. This is because extreme levels of fatigue and stress can result to a negative impact on the pilots job performance (20).Besides, chronic stress can impact negatively on not only the health of the pilot but also on the cognitive functioning of the pilot a fact that can lead to fatal accidents that can be prevented if proper measures for curbing stress can be put in place.
According to Earl et al. a well-managed exposure to a stressful environment does not necessarily lead to negative human experiences. However, it can be a source of motivation for an individual to adapt to the new changes. Unmanaged stress due to the working condition can drastically lead to physical, mental and emotional breakdown of the pilot. Excessive stress can jeopardize the pilots cognitive functional and decision making thus leading to errors. The management has to effectively plan the heavy workloads for the pilots. Also, the pilots need a significant amount of time to rest and a proper diet so as to reduce stress and fatigue while at the workplace (42).
Advances have been made in the management of the workload in the aviation industry due to many accidents that have been caused by stressful conditions. The use of integrated and advanced cockpit technology has helped in making the work easier for the pilots to the events of an emergency or stressful conditions since the cockpit has additional features and ads that informs the pilot on what to do so as to overcome an experience that may lead to stress. Excessive stress limits the amount of information a pilot can access from the working memory. The condition can result in tension, fatigue and anger a fact that can cause an accident due to a disruption of the mind. Automation of the flight services has help to enhance confidence among the pilots since they can access information easily through the cockpit.
Significant improvements in the recent past have been critical of the reduction of accidents caused by stress and fatigue in the aviation industry. The stakeholders in the aviation industry have developed training programs for various behavioral strategies and stress management that help to educate the pilots on how to reduce human limitations. Also, teamwork is highly emphasized in crew resource management so as to overcome stress and fatigue (LeSagas et al. 22).
Works Cited
Earl, Wiene.,Barbara, Kanki and Helmreich, Robert. Crew Resource Management.London: Academic express, 2010.Print.
LeSaga, Paul., Jeff, Dyar.and Bruce, Evans. Crew resource management: Principles and practice. New York: Jones &Bartlett learning.2010.Print.
