april2022 - 25

Uschi Schulte-Sasse, senior vice
president, Aviation Division for
INFORM GmbH
" Because of the labor shortage, people are working so
much, meaning longer hours and being driven for overtime,
that it's becoming difficult to keep safety metrics in line, "
says Jeff Sease, VP operations for Predictive Safety.
And that's where Alert Meter comes in, giving employmit
to a job and not be interrupted
by COVID interruptions where the
operation shuts down, flights shut
down, " Gemmell says. " Most major
companies in aviation are experiencing
a shortfall on a daily basis of 30 to
40 percent under head count. How do
you make up for that? Tons of overtime. What happens when
you give tons of overtime? People get tired, they get burnt out,
they get fatigued. "
Uschi Schulte-Sasse, senior vice president, Aviation Division
for INFORM GmbH, says adding to the problem is that Generation
X, Y and Z are much more interested in a work-life balance
and want to be involved in decision-making regarding their
assignments and schedules.
" As a result, the industry is more widely applying next-generation
technologies to better manage workers and accommodate
their preferences. This was not previously the case. Today, we're
seeing all sectors of the industry deploy workforce management
solutions to address shift preferences, ensure that workers are
assigned tasks for which they have the proper skills, and also to
ensure adherence with service level agreements, " she says.
Staying Alert and Safe
As noted, a solution to under staffing is scheduling current
employees for greater work. But the increased workload can
lead to fatigue and other mental states not conducive to a
safe environment.
ers a tool to measure the cognitive state of their employees.
Through puzzle solving, a user can tell if they are overly
fatigued for their assigned duty, for example.
" You set your own test pattern and cognitive awareness
by taking 10 tests randomly to build that baseline. So, you're
always competing against yourself, no one else. It's against
your own cognitive awareness when it's measured as being
stable, " Gemmell says.
" AlertMeter is a game-like app that can be executed on
a mobile device or via a tablet or a computer browser that is
entirely shape-based, language-independent and non-discriminatory, "
adds Sease. " And the process to take the assessment
is that basically, you play the AlertMeter game, and you
look at a series of shapes and you choose - are one of the
shapes different, or are they all the same? And it also has a
memory component tied into it. So, you have to see a shape.
And then, a little bit later, distinguish that shape from a field
of other shapes. "
Each test is evaluated in four different ways and works on
a user's personal baseline, evaluating speed, accuracy, situational
awareness and consistent cognitive behavior.
" People develop personal proclivities to different shapes
and it evaluates how they're performing today on those
shapes compared to how they normally perform. And in a
recent clinical trial with Denver University, it was found to
be more sensitive to fatigue than the current gold standard
psychomotor vigilance test that's used in clinical environments, "
says Sease.
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april2022

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