Dealing With Mental Health Sources Among Aviation Personnel
Mental health experts have identified possible causes of mental health related violations by some aircraft crew members and other aviation personnel.
Speaking in a panel session at the Aviation Stakeholder Engagement Workshop organized by Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) under theme, Preservation Of Accident Investigation Evidence & Substance Use Among Aviation Personnel, a Consultant Psychiatrist at Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Dr. (Mrs.) Olajumoke Koyejo noted that psychological drivers that attract substance abuse include work environment, organization’s work culture and trauma. She advised against work schedules that stretch personnel beyond human levels.
“Provisions should be made to make humans feel like humans in the workplace and not robots,” she said.
In his presentation titled Navigating The Grey: Mental Health & Peer Support In African Aviation, the Chairman of International Peer Assist Aviation Coalition (IPAAC), Capt. Dave Fielding emphasized the dangers of mental health problems in an aviation personnel, which he said is worsened by the denial and concealment of the symptoms for fear of stigma by those who need help. He identified effects of the problems as loss of license or qualifications, shame, damage of relationships and eventual loss of livelihood.
He said solutions include peer support in form of cooperation, monitoring group and pathways to help.
Fielding equally recommended multi-agency cooperation in form of regulator’s provision of supportive regulations, operators’ support of funding PSPs, AME supportive Aeromedical Approval and trust of the programmes by the workforce so that help can be administered early.
The Head of Aeromedical Services at Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. (Mrs) Esther Shittu said there has to be a collaboration between the regulator and the operators in addition to agreement with workers’ union on approach to management of such cases.
Capt. Jide Bakare of Arik Air said there is need to build a system where there is confidence that no punitive action will be taken against suspects. He stated that Arik Air has a random drug testing policy, complemented and contained in the company’s operations’ manual, adding that there is a process of training and education on the handling of substance abuse and mental health cases.
Capt. Fielding emphasized the need for the industry regulator to work with operators on proactive measures, citing Japanese, who he said have the highest drugs control test in the world.
