Testing for Fatigue
With all the talk about fatigue at he moment I am wondering if there are any "fatigue testing " systems in the development pipeline.
I envisage a system whereby the tech-crew brief their days flying and then log on to a secure website and carry out a 30 second cognative/coordination test similar to the "monkey-box" type tests the military use for selection. The individual has their own password and a database for that individual compares todays scores/times with their historic average. If their score is 15% lower/slower than their average then they cannot fly. It would pick up all sorts of things, fatigue, drinking, common illnesses that affect performance etc.
It would take a month or two upon joining the company for a decent amount of data to be logged for each individual but that doesn't matter, they will most likely be training during that time anyway and with a training captain. It sounds a bit far fetched now but if it was common place I think we would come to view it as just another part of the signing on process. I am not envisaging anything difficult, maybe keep the ball inside the box with your right hand while answering basic maths quetsions with your left hand (3 x 7 =.... kinda stuff) . I know that deviding my attention like that becomes much more of a challenge at 1am on the 4th day of 4 sector days and I really have to concentrate on keeping my scan going when for example , hand flying an approach.
So the question again, are there any "fatigue testing systems" in the development pipeline?
Regards,
Framer