Dr. Joan Cahill & Captain Paul Cullen Discuss Work Related Stress for Commercial Pilots
Research indicates that sources of work-related stress (WRS) impact on the physical, social, and psychological health of pilots. Furthermore, specific features of the job can increase a pilot’s risk in relation to developing a mental health (MH) issue. It is impossible to remove all stress from the work life of pilots. A high stress situation may not necessarily be detrimental to the person, once they have learned to cope with it in a healthy manner. Nonetheless, risk pertaining to WRS need to be effectively managed by a pilot’s employer. Therefore, it is important to identify solutions at an airline and pilot self-management level.
This paper reports on the findings of human factors research undertaken with commercial pilots pertaining to work-related stress (WRS) and its impact on wellbeing, performance, and safety.