Airservices Australia did not have a defined process for recording the actual hours worked by its Air Traffic Control Line Managers and therefore could not accurately monitor the potential fatigue of those personnel when they were performing operational roles such as a Shift Manager or Contingency Response Manager.
The ATSB is satisfied that the safety action satisfactorily addresses the safety issue.
Airservices Australia (Airservices) advised that the procedures for monitoring and assessing fatigue related risk amongst employees was described in Airservices’ updated Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) requirements (commonly referred to as FRMS 2) and more specifically in Fatigue Risk Management Air Traffic Service Procedure (effective from 30 July 2012). All Air Traffic Control (ATC) Line Managers’ rosters were subject to the strategic roster planning process and any changes to the published work-cycle were subject to the tactical roster management process, in accordance with the FRMS procedure/rule-set. In addition, it was advised that:
The current process requires the duty hours (from both operational and administrative shifts) of ATC Line Managers who perform an operational role be recorded and tracked via the ATC rostering system incorporated in Airservices updated FRMS 2. The recorded duty hours form part of the input used to determine an individual's FRMS level which is in turn recorded in the Variation to Published Services: Operational Hazard Assessment Form. As previously mentioned this form is used to determine the suitability of potential CRMs [Contingency Response Managers] through the consideration of several factors including an individual's level of fatigue.
