Cabin and flight crew for Airline TT have an airside ready room. The entrance is via the baggage make-up
area, which is a large airside area where bags are sorted and loaded onto trolleys ready to go on the
correct flight. Airline staff walk across the operational baggage make-up floor to get to their ready room,
as this is the fastest and most direct route. In this area there are tugs (some diesel and some electric)
and trolleys, conveyor belts, and baggage handling staff at work. The area is cold, noisy and lighting is
low. There is a designated walkway around the edge of this area, so staff can safety access the ready
room; however, this takes twice as long, and airline staff do not use it. They complain that they have
walked across the operational area for years and are aware of the risks, there is no record of any injury
from doing so, and that other airport workers do it all the time.
a. Explain the human factors that may affect airline staff crossing the operational baggage
make-up area.
b. Explain the human factors considerations for changing the behavior so that staff choose to
use the longer route around the safe walkway. What are the obstacles to changing this
behavior and how might they be overcome?
c. Using the pillars of SMS as your structure, detail how you might change the behavior so that
staff use the longer route.