Fatigue risk management in air traffic control operations and current situation assesment in Turkey

Fatigue has started to become a frequently encountered situation in our daily lives. Due to the dynamic and demanding nature of the work environment, the concept of fatigue especially in aviation and transportation workers carry many risks regarding safety of life and property. There are many research and systems worldwide regarding fatigue management in air traffic operations. The purpose of this study is to asses the current situation regarding fatigue in air traffic control operations in Turkey, determine how much of the World wide standards and practices are obtained and to find if any short comings are present so as to increase the situational awareness on the topic. Research data has been collected via an exploratory survey conducted to 479 active air traffic controllers regarding fatigue and work-rest conditions. The data and answers to some hypothesis have been analysed via IBM SPSS25 statistical program. As a result of the research, it has been determined that although ICAO has establisehed the importance of fatigue in air traffic operations and meaningfull criterias have been found in the survey on air traffic controller (ATC) fatigue, there is no official or regulatory initiative for applying fatigue risk managent systems to air traffic operations and currently most regulations and systems are focused solely on flight crew fatigue management systems and hours of service limitations. Keywords: Fatigue, Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS), Air Traffic Control, Shift Work, Sleep Science