9.7.3-4 Keeping Up to Date, Currency and Dissemination of Information PDF

Keeping Up to Date, Currency and Dissemination of Information (9.7.3-4) Learning Objectives 9.7.3 Identify accepted methods of keeping knowledge and skills up-to-date and maintaining currency (Level 2). 9.7.4 Describe the shared responsibility of maintenance organisations and individu...

Keeping Up to Date, Currency and Dissemination of Information (9.7.3-4) Learning Objectives 9.7.3 Identify accepted methods of keeping knowledge and skills up-to-date and maintaining currency (Level 2). 9.7.4 Describe the shared responsibility of maintenance organisations and individuals for distributing and checking for new information (Level 2). 2023-01-12 B-09 Human Factors Page 253 of 340 CASA Part 66 - Training Materials Only  Keeping Up to Date, Currency New Information AMEs undertake an approved course to obtain the knowledge and basic skills to enter the profession. This training is followed by instruction in more speci c areas, such as maintenance of individual aircraft and speci c systems. However, the aviation industry is dynamic. Operators change their aircraft, new aircraft types and variants are introduced, new aircraft maintenance practices are introduced. As a consequence, engineers and other maintenance workers need to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. To maintain their currency, aircraft maintenance workers must keep abreast of pertinent information relating to: New aircraft types or variants New technologies and aircraft systems New tools and maintenance practices Modi cations to current aircraft and systems In-service problems Revised maintenance procedures and practices. 2023-01-12 B-09 Human Factors Page 254 of 340 CASA Part 66 - Training Materials Only  Ways of Keeping Current Maintenance workers are likely to keep up to date by: Undertaking refresher courses Reading brie ng material, memos and bulletins Studying maintenance manual amendments. Responsibility for maintaining currency lies with both the individual maintenance worker and the maintenance organisation for which they work. The individual should make it their business to keep up to date with changes in their profession (remembering that making assumptions can be dangerous). The organisation should provide the appropriate training and allow their staff enough time to undertake the training before working on a new aircraft type or variant. It should also make written information easily accessible to maintenance workers and encourage them to read it. It is, of course, vital that those producing the information make it easy for maintenance staff to understand (i.e., avoid ambiguity). Small changes to the technology or procedures for aircraft maintenance can carry the greatest risk. Often these do not warrant formal training and may merely be minor changes to a procedure or a manual. There should be mechanisms in place to record all such changes and notify the staff. While the maintenance organisation has an obligation to inform the staff of changes, it is part of the maintenance worker’s individual responsibility to keep updated and maintain their currency. Image by Aviation Today Maintenance workers can maintain currency by undertaking refresher courses 2023-01-12 B-09 Human Factors Page 255 of 340 CASA Part 66 - Training Materials Only  Continuing Professional Development Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the ongoing process of developing, updating, maintaining and documenting the status of professional skills. CPD should be an on-going commitment, lasting as long as a person remains in a profession. Some professions have formalised CPD so that each development opportunity is ranked by points, and each person in that profession must accumulate suf cient points every year to maintain their professional accreditation. Other professions, including aircraft maintenance, have a system whereby quali ed persons must complete a certain number of hours of professional development every year. This must be tracked by the employing organisation and is required in order for staff to retain their authorisation, or their involvement with particular customers. CPD skills and knowledge may be gained formally, or informally. Formal CPD includes: Organised courses Other training events. Informal CPD may include: On-the-job learning Job shadowing/mentoring Self-study Seminars Workshops Conferences Magazine subscriptions. 2023-01-12 B-09 Human Factors Page 256 of 340 CASA Part 66 - Training Materials Only  Aviation Australia - GL Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the ongoing process 2023-01-12 B-09 Human Factors Page 257 of 340 CASA Part 66 - Training Materials Only  Dissemination of Information Shared Responsibility As highlighted in the previous section, both the individual maintenance worker and the organisation in which they work have a shared responsibility to keep abreast of new information. Good dissemination of information within an organisation forms part of its safety culture. Typically, the maintenance organisation will be the sender and the individual worker will be the recipient. It has been noted that an aircraft maintenance individual or team need to plan the way work will be performed. Part of this process should be checking that all information relating to the task has been gathered and understood. This includes checking to see if there is any information highlighting a change associated with the task (e.g., the way something should be done, the tools to be used, the components or parts involved). Photo by ThisIsEngineering from Pexels Checking to see if there is any information highlighting a change associated with a task 2023-01-12 B-09 Human Factors Page 258 of 340 CASA Part 66 - Training Materials Only  Distributing and Checking for New Information It is imperative that people working remotely from a hangar or engineering base (e.g., on a ight line or outstation) familiarise themselves with new information (on notice boards, in maintenance manuals, etc.) on a regular basis. There should normally be someone within the maintenance organisation who is responsible for disseminating information. Supervisors can play an important role by ensuring that the engineers within their team have seen and understood any communicated information. Poor dissemination of information was judged to have been a contributory factor to an aircraft accident in 1983. The NTSB accident report stated: ‘… the material was posted, and all mechanics were expected to comply with the guidance. However, there was no supervisory follow-up to ensure that mechanics and foremen were incorporating the … material into the work requirements … Use of binders and bulletin boards is not an effective means of controlling the dissemination of important work procedures, especially when there is no accountability system in place to enable supervisors to ensure that all mechanics had seen the applicable training and procedural information.’ Communication is an active process. Both the organisation and staff must play their part, but the organisation cannot shift responsibility to the staff to learn new information that comes into the workplace. Important information should have an acknowledgement process, so the organisation can be con dent that staff members have read and understood any new information. 2023-01-12 B-09 Human Factors Page 259 of 340 CASA Part 66 - Training Materials Only