Documents flight attendant 19 results

"Although there are many forecasts regarding the impact of climate change on the aviation sector, a critical but frequently neglected dimension is the occupational safety risks faced by aviation professionals. This narrative review explores the potential impacts of the changing climate on the health and safety of aviation personnel. Furthermore, we examine the significance of resilience in helping these workers adapt and effectively manage climate-related challenges in their professional lives. Climate change poses increasing threats to the well-being of flight personnel through elevated temperatures, heightened ultraviolet radiation exposure, increased mental workload from extreme weather events, and other psychological stressors. Building resilience through workforce training, planning, and adaptation can reduce vulnerability. In future research, the iterative process of selecting measurement components to gauge the impact of climate change should balance feasibility, relevance for stakeholders, and accurately capturing exposure effects. For instance, while salivary cortisol measures stress biologically, assessments of depression or burnout may provide more nuanced insights on pilot health for industry decision-makers managing climate impacts. In conclusion, a strategic emphasis on enhancing the physical and psychological well-being of the aviation workforce is imperative for facilitating a more efficient adaptation within the sector. This is of paramount importance, considering the critical function that aviation serves in fostering human connectivity. Consequently, it is essential for regulatory bodies and policymakers to prioritize the safeguarding of employee health in the face of climate change challenges."

"AIM:

This paper is a report of a study to examine the relationships between work-related psychosocial factors and lower-back work-related musculoskeletal disorders among long-haul international female flight attendants.

BACKGROUND:

Recent attention has focused on the influence of work-related psychosocial factors on work-related musculoskeletal disorders. To date, however, little is known about the influence of psychosocial factors at work on lower back work-related musculoskeletal disorders in female flight attendants.

METHOD:

A cross-sectional, mailed survey was conducted in 2004 with flight attendants in one major airline who were randomly selected from a union membership list. The work-related psychosocial factors included psychological job demand, decision latitude, social support, job insecurity, and external environmental concerns. Physical load was defined by overall strenuousness across 41 job tasks and measured by a 4-point scale of strenuousness. Lower-back work-related musculoskeletal disorders were defined as lower-back symptoms that occurred at least once a month or lasted at least 1 week in the past year and caused at least moderate pain.

FINDINGS:

The flight attendants with lower back work-related musculoskeletal disorders, compared with those without lower-back work-related musculoskeletal disorders, had higher perceived psychological job demands, job insecurity, and physical load. After controlling for physical load and personal factors, high job insecurity significantly increased the risk for lower-back work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

CONCLUSION:

Occupational health nurses in the airline industry should be cognizant of the importance of assessing the influence of both job tasks and work-related psychosocial factors on lower-back work-related musculoskeletal disorders."

"Crewmembers are exposed to galactic cosmic radiation on every flight and occasionally to solar protons on polar flights. Data are presented showing that the proton occasions are seven times more frequent than generally believed. Crewmembers are also exposed to neutrons and gamma rays from the sun and to gamma rays from terrestrial thunderstorms. Solar neutrons and gamma rays (1) expose the daylight side of Earth, (2) are most intense at lower latitudes, (3) may be as or more frequent than solar protons, and (4) have relativistic energies. The U.S. agency responsible for crewmember safety only considers the galactic component with respect to its recommended 20 mSv y(-1) limit, but it has an estimate for a thunderstorm dose of 30 mSv. In view of overlooked sources, possible over-limit doses, and lack of dosimetry, dose reconstructions are needed. However, using the agency dose estimates and the compensation procedure for U.S. nuclear weapon workers, the probability of crewmember cancers can be at least as likely as not. Ways to improve the quality of dose estimates are suggested, and a worker's compensation program specific to aviation crewmembers is recommended."

"The protracted dispute (2009–11) between British Airways and BASSA (British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association) was notable for the strength of collective action by cabin crew. In-depth interviews reveal collectivism rooted in the labour process and highlight the key agency of BASSA in effectively articulating worker interests. This data emphasizes crews' relative autonomy, sustained by unionate on-board Cabin Service Directors who have defended the frontier of control against managerial incursions. Periodic attempts to re-configure the labour process, driven by cost cutting imperatives in an increasingly competitive airline industry, eroded crews' organizational loyalties. When BA imposed radical changes to contracts and working arrangements, BASSA successfully mobilized its membership. The article contributes to labour process analysis by emphasizing the collective dimensions to emotional labour, restoring the ‘missing subject', but also articulating the interconnections between labour process and mobilization and the role unions can play in providing the organizational and ideological resources to legitimate worker interest."

"OBJECTIVES:
To study whether increased cancer risk, particularly of cancer types previously related to radiation, was found among cabin attendants, using employment time as a surrogate of exposure to cosmic radiation.
METHODS:
A cohort of 1690 cabin attendants, 158 men and 1532 women from the Icelandic Cabin Crew Association and two airline companies in Iceland, was established. Cancer sites were ascertained between 1955 and 1997 by follow-up in a cancer registry. The personal identification number of each subject was used in record linkage to population-based registers containing vital and emigration status, reproductive factors and histologically verified cancer diagnosis. Standardized incidence rates (SIR) of different cancer sites in relation to employment time and year of hiring were calculated, as well as predictive values of breast cancer risk for evaluating possible confounding due to reproductive factors.
RESULTS:
The total number of person-years was 27,148. Among the women, 64 cancers were observed whereas 51.63 were expected (SIR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0-1.6), and significantly increased risk for malignant melanoma (SIR 3.0, 95% CI 1.2-6.2) was found. Significantly increased risks of overall cancers (SIR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.8) and breast cancer (SIR 1.6, 95% CI 1.0-2.4) were observed among the female cabin attendants when 15 years lag time was applied. Those hired in 1971 or later had the heaviest exposure to cosmic radiation at a young age and had significantly increased risk of overall cancer (SIR 2.8, 95% CI 1.4-4.9) and breast cancer (SIR 4.1, 95% CI 1.7-8.5). Predictive values calculated on the basis of reproductive factors among the cabin attendants and the population, and risk of breast cancer were 1.0 for parous vs. nulliparous, 1.0 for number of children, and 1.1 for age at birth of first child.
CONCLUSION:
The increased risk of breast cancer and malignant melanoma among cabin attendants seems to be occupationally related. The part played by occupational exposures, i.e. cosmic radiation, disturbance of the circadian rhythm, and electromagnetic fields or combination of these factors in the etiology of breast cancer among the cabin crew, is still a puzzle as confounding due to parity appears to be ruled out. The relationship between the sunbathing habits of the cabin crew and the increased risk of malignant melanoma needs to be clarified. There is also an urgent need to elucidate the importance of these findings for today's aviation."

"OBJECTIVE:
To examine unusual exposure opportunities to flight crews from chemicals, cosmic radiation, and electric and magnetic fields.
METHODS: This project evaluated the incidence of cancers of the breast and other sites among Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) members residing in California. AFA membership files were matched to California's statewide cancer registry to identify a total of 129 newly diagnosed invasive cancers among AFA members with California residential histories between 1988 and 1995.
RESULTS: Compared to the general population, female breast cancer incidence was over 30% higher than expected, and malignant melanoma incidence was roughly twice that expected. Both of these are cancers that are associated with higher socioeconomic status and have been suggestively associated with various sources of radiation.
CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the results from Nordic studies of cabin crews and a recent meta-analysis of prior studies, these data suggest that follow-up investigations should focus on the potential relative contribution of workplace exposures and lifestyle characteristics to the higher rates of disease for these two cancers."

"This paper reviews the current knowledge of cosmic radiation and its applicability to commercial aviation. Galactic cosmic radiation emanates from outside the solar system, while occasionally a disturbance in the suns' atmosphere leads to a surge in radiation particles. Protection is provided by the suns' magnetic field, the earths' magnetic field, and the earths' atmosphere. Dose rates are dependent on the altitude, the geomagnetic latitude and the solar cycle. For occupational exposure to ionising radiation, which includes aircrew, the International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends maximum mean body effective dose limits of 20mSv/yr (averaged over 5 years, with a maximum in any 1 year of 50mSv). Radiation doses can be measured during flight or may be calculated using a computer-modelling program such as CARI, EPCARD, SIEVERT or PCAIRE. Mean ambient equivalent dose rates are consistently reported in the region of 4-5microSv/h for long-haul pilots and 1-3microSv/h for short-haul, giving an annual mean effective exposure of the order 2-3mSv for long-haul and 1-2mSv for short-haul pilots. Epidemiological studies of flight crew have not shown conclusive evidence for any increase in cancer mortality or cancer incidence directly attributable to ionising radiation exposure. Whilst there is no level of radiation exposure below which effects do not occur, current evidence indicates that the probability of airline crew or passengers suffering adverse health effects as a result of exposure to cosmic radiation is very low."

'As governments become increasingly concerned about the fiscal implications of the ageing population, labour market policies have sought to encourage mature workers to remain in the labour force. The `human capital' discourses motivating these policies rest on the assumption that older workers armed with motivation and vocational skills will be able to return to fulfilling work. This article uses the post-redundancy recruitment experiences of former Ansett Airlines flight attendants to develop a critique of these expectations. It suggests that policies to increase older workers' labour market participation will not succeed while persistent socially constructed age- and gender-typing shape labour demand. The conclusion argues for policies sensitive to the institutional structures that shape employer preferences, the competitive rationality of discriminatory practices, and the irresolvable tension between workers' human rights and employers' property rights.'

"Cet article est le résultat d'une étude menée par l'INRS, entre 2000 et 2004, à la suite d'une demande concernant principalement l'étude des relations entre les exigences du travail et les effets sur la charge physique, mentale et émotionnelle des navigants. Pour répondre aux préoccupations soulevées par les demandeurs, le choix a été fait de s'intéresser aux vols court et moyen courriers. La démarche méthodologique a reposé sur une approche ergonomique et psychosociale. Les résultats s'articulent autour de trois axes : l'environnement physique, la charge de travail et le stress du personnel. Ils sont développés et discutés en fin d'article. En conclusion, des propositions concrètes d'actions de prévention, émergeant naturellement de cette étude, sont présentées."