By David Brooks, National Safety and Standards Director
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| David Brooks |
Why are you performing a MEL on a landing light on a turn when we used to just change it? Why were we doing it before and how were we able to do it then? If someone asks you why can’t we do a task a certain way and as fast as we used to, this is not the proper question to ask. The proper question to ask is how is it supposed to be accomplished now? This is a new age, and maintenance tasks and procedures change all the time. We must refer to our manuals and follow them; we cannot just “get er done” and neglect the manuals to see possible recent updates or procedures that have not been done in the past. This exemplifies a characteristic of our work culture, and hopefully highlights why it is important for our work culture to change and evolve.
Culture is a word for people's “way of life,” meaning the way groups do things. Different groups of people may have different cultures, and companies or other organizations (groups of people) can have a separate culture. We have a current culture at each of our carriers that deals with how we perform maintenance. With the ever changing programs, we cannot maintain the current culture and, therefore, we must change the way we do things--in essence, change our culture. We need to realize that we have our own work culture, and I am not speaking of work ethic, as an experienced mechanic might finish a job more quickly because he has done the job more times, I am speaking of our culture of how we accomplish our work.
As stated above, our culture needs to change, but how do we change it? Management has stated that it needs to be changed, and we acknowledge that we can’t do things today the way it was done ten years ago. The way to change it is to explain the change in culture to our peers, and to express the consequences if we do not adapt. One of the top human factors causes of incidents are tech pubs--simply put, not reading and using them to complete the job. This includes reading the maintenance manual each time to ensure that we have the proper tooling and perform the tasks according to the manual. We need to discuss this issue with our peers and make sure we are doing what is necessary to protect our licenses, and perhaps our jobs. Make sure you do things correctly, not quickly. Make sure you do the right thing even when no one is watching. Do it properly the first time.
FAR 43.9 requires you to record entries and FAR 43.12 states that any fraudulent or intentionally false entry, or any alteration for fraudulent purposes (which includes undocumented maintenance) is a basis for suspending or revoking your airman certificate. This also opens you up for company punishment, up to dismissal. The FAA interprets undocumented maintenance as falsification of records. For example, if an AMT services crew oxygen and fails to document the task, this is a falsification and they would be subject to FAA punishment, and more than likely loss of license and job. This has actually happened and we want to prevent our members from being involved on the wrong end of this scenario. It is important to also remember that not performing tasks and signing off on them can also subject you to a dismissal.
One last item that I would like to address and have spoken of with our carriers’ leadership is to use the correct tooling. Belt loaders are to be used only for loading baggage. We have safety bulletins that state not to use belt loaders, but they are still being used for convenience. Belt loaders should not be used as they do not have rails or other devices to keep you safe, and we do not want them to be covered in dirt and grease from our maintenance, which can soil our customers’ bags. Ensure that you have the correct tools for the job, and if they are not available, then the job cannot be accomplished at that time. Tell your supervisor that the job will have to wait until the proper tooling has arrived.
Be safe and let’s help each other protect ourselves. The consequences for not doing so are dire.
