FAA AC 120-72
The FAA AC 120-72 (hereinafter, AC) is the advisory circular (AC) number 120-72 of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Its subject is maintenance resource management training.
Purpose
- This advisory circular (AC) presents guidelines for developing, implementing, reinforcing, and assessing Maintenance Resource Management (MRM) training programs for improving communication, effectiveness, and safety in maintenance operations. These programs are designed to become an integral part of training and maintenance operations.
- This AC presents one method, but not necessarily the only method, to address MRM training. MRM training focuses on situational awareness, communication skills, teamwork, task allocation, and decision making.
Related regulations
Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations; Sections 121.375 and 135.433.
Definitions
Terms
- Active failure. A type of human error whose effects are felt immediately in a system.
- Assertiveness. The ability to verbalize a series of “rights” that belong to every employee. Some of these “rights” include: the right to say no, the right to express feelings and ideas, and the right to ask for information.
- Asynchronous communication. Communication in which there exists a time delay between responses. Asynchronous communication is typified by a unique set of characteristics, such as the lack of non-verbal communication cues (e.g., body language, verbal inflection, etc.). Examples of asynchronous communication include an e-mail message sent from the day supervisor to the night supervisor or memos left between shifts or passed between a shop and the hanger.
- Authoritarian leader. A person who dictates the action and the course of a team with little input from team members.
- Communication. The process of exchanging information from one party to another.
- Complacency. Satisfaction with a situation to the extent that a degradation of vigilance occurs.
- Crew resource management. Team-based human factors training for flight crews.
- Dirty Dozen. The twelve most common maintenance-related causes of errors. These twelve causes are: (a) lack of communication, (b) complacency. (c) lack of knowledge, (d) distraction, (e) lack of teamwork, (f) fatigue, (g) lack of resources, (h) pressure, (i) lack of assertiveness, (j) stress, (k) lack of awareness, (l) norms
- Egalitarian. Relating to the doctrine of equal political, economic, and legal rights for all human beings.
- Ergonomics. The scientific discipline of studying interactions between humans and non-human systems, including human-computer interaction (HCI), in order to adapt work or working conditions to enhance performance of the worker. Ergonomics can be considered as a part of human factors, which studies influence of human features on interactions with both non-human systems and human beings. When applied to design, the study of ergonomics seeks to optimize both human well-being and system performance.
- Inter-team. Occurring between separate teams.
- Intra-team. Occurring within a team.
- Instructional systems design. A generic term for the methodology of creating and implementing a training program.
- Human factors. The scientific study of the interaction between people and machines.
- Latent failure. A type of human error whose effects may lie dormant until triggered later, usually by other factors.
- Leadership. The ability to direct and coordinate the activities of group members and stimulate them to work together as a team.
- Maintenance resource management. A general process for maintaining an effective level of communication and safety in maintenance operations.
- Mental model. A depiction of a system in a person's mind, i.e. how a person thinks a system is put together and how it works.
- Norms. Expected, yet implicit rules of behavior that dictate a person's dress, speech, and basic interaction.
- Participatory leader. A person who encourages member participation and input to help lead the team's course of action.
- Safety culture. A pervasive, organization-wide attitude placing safety as the primary priority driving the way employees perform their work.
- Situational awareness. Maintaining a complete mental picture of surrounding objects and events as well as the ability to interpret those events for future use. Situational awareness encompasses such concepts as attention, and vigilance.
- Stressor. An event or object that causes stress in an individual.
- Synchronous communication. Communication in which a minimal delay exists between the message being sent and the message being received. Examples include face-to-face conversation and communication via radio.
- Team. A group of interdependent individuals working together to complete a specific task.
- Team situational awareness. Maintaining a collective awareness across the entire team of important job-related conditions.
- Teamwork. Joint action by a group of people, in which each person subordinates his individual interests and opinions to the unity and efficiency of the group.
