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Professionalism
This document defines professionalism and its importance in aviation maintenance. It outlines the characteristics of a profession as a specialized occupation adhering to standards. Professionalism in aviation maintenance involves conducting oneself with responsibility, respecting colleagues and customers, following approved methods and procedures, acting with integrity and ethics, and meeting quality standards. Maintaining professionalism promotes aviation safety, improves the public image of maintenance technicians and the aviation industry.
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Professionalism
- 1. Federal Aviation AdministrationOperations/Airworthiness Positive SafetyCulture R1 PROFESSIONALISM
- 2. Federal Aviation Administration 2 OBJECTIVE • DefineProfession • Characteristics of Professionalism • Qualities of Professionalism
- 3. Federal Aviation Administration 3 PROFESSION • Avocation or occupation • A body of qualified persons • Conforming to the standards of a profession
- 4. Federal Aviation Administration 4 PROFESSIONAL • Aperson who is paid to perform a specialized set of tasks. • Having skill, experience and knowledge in a particular field or activity. • Traditional professions included doctors, engineers, lawyers etc. • Today the term is applied to nurses, accountants, technicians and more.
- 5. Federal Aviation Administration 5 Characteristics ofProfessionalism • CONDUCT • RESPECT • METHODS • CHARACTER • STANDARDS
- 6. Federal Aviation Administration 6 CONDUCT • Personalacts or behavior • Responsibility and courtesy • Make safety the highest priority • Do the job to the best of my ability
- 7. Federal Aviation Administration 7 CONDUCT • Bewary of distractions • Be organized • Set examples • Give feedback
- 8. Federal Aviation Administration 8 RESPECT • Colleaguesand customers • Judgment and behavior • Interaction
- 9. Federal Aviation Administration 9 RESPECT • Goodmanners • Constructive and timely feedback • Property, tools, and supplies
- 10. Federal Aviation Administration 10 METHODS • Away of accomplishing something • Orderly or systematic arrangement • Approved and accepted methods
- 11. Federal Aviation Administration 11 METHODS • Followprocedure and techniques • Use checklists • Adopt personal minimums • Plan and research every task
- 12. Federal Aviation Administration 12 CHARACTER • Combinationof qualities that distinguishes one group from another • Integrity and Ethics • Highest moral principles
- 13. Federal Aviation Administration 13 STANDARDS • Commonlyused and accepted as an authority • Set of rules for ensuring quality • Specific maintenance record requirements
- 14. Federal Aviation Administration 14 QUALITIES OFPROFESSIONALISM • Disciplined • Organized • Trained • Honest • Trustworthy
- 15. Federal Aviation Administration 15 BEING APROFESSIONAL • PROMOTES AVIATION SAFETY • IMPROVES THE IMAGE OF THE MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN • IMPROVES THE IMAGE OF THE AVIATION MAINTENANCE INDUSTRY
- 16. Federal Aviation Administration 16 PROFESSIONALISM • DOINGTHE RIGHT THINGS, EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING
- 17. Federal Aviation Administration 17 Conclusion • Question? •Faasafety.gov • AMT Awards Program • General Aviation Awards Program • WINGS • We want your feedback – http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/s takeholder_feedback/afs/field/sf_faasteam/
Editor's Notes
- #2 Number 2013/03/21-035 (I) PP: PPT Information: Original Author, FAASTeam; POC Phil Randall, AFS-850 Airworthiness Lead, Office Phone 336-369-3948; reviewed/Revision 1, 03/20/2013 by Ali Ispahany and Pete Wilhelmson, AFS-850. PPT may be used by an FPM or Representative for any appropriate FAASTeam safety presentation. This PPT will satisfy Human Factor and/or Positive Safety Culture.
- #3 Present the objectives
- #4 What is a Profession? A vocation or an occupation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or science. A body of qualified persons of one specific occupation or field. Profession of a mechanic or aviation maintenance technician (AMT) is based on qualifications and acceptable practices established by the aviation industry. Mechanics as well as pilots are in a respected profession. Both require FAA certificate to achieve either status. Both demand high professional ethics and discipline because human lives depend on it.
- #5 Therefore: What is professional? A person receiving pay for performing a task. Persons having skill or experience in a particular field or activity. Persons engaged in a specific activity as a source of livelihood. AMT is a perfect example. As AMTs we are subject to strict codes of conduct which leads to logical and completely unbiased decision-making (in our case safety of flight as top priority).
- #6 Professionalism is achieved by your conduct, respect, methods, character and standards that are identified by the aviation industry. Doing the right things, even when no one is looking. Let’s look at each of these.
- #7 Conduct! The way a person acts or behaves. We are judged by our actions and behavior, not only by our industry colleagues, but the flying public. We have the responsibility to remain disciplined to hold ourselves to highest standards for safety, not the minimum, at all times or bad things can…..and will happen. Safety is our priority regardless of any pressures or influences that we feel. If we cannot do the job to the best of our ability………. every time……….. we need to find another profession.
- #8 First Bullet: Mental and physical distractions ARE the number 1 cause of forgetting things. Forgetting things, in our profession, can hurt people……innocent people! Tasks that have or have not been accomplished must be separated and communicated. To help, use checklists and the “ Go back 3 steps ” rule. Second Bullet: Start and finish the work day organized and in control. Maintain good housekeeping. Third Bullet: Be a team player. Setting proper example is important – actions speak louder than words. Show up on time. Demonstrate foresight and thought. Share best practices. Identify and report unsafe conditions. Submit Service difficulty Reports (SDRs) for unsafe conditions found in an aircraft. Use effective communication skills whether completing maintenance records or conducting a task turnover briefing. In our profession, miscommunication is easily done and it too can be dangerous.
- #9 First bullet: Effective professional relationships and teamwork begins and continues with mutual respect among both colleagues and customers. The our complex industry demands it. Too much information can be missed without it. Second Bullet: Professional reputation is earned by exercising good judgment and behavior. Once earned it can quickly be damaged if you drop your guard. Once damaged it is almost next to impossible to regain. Remember the old adage?.............20 good deeds can be swept away with one bad deed. Some of you may have heard it expressed another way…….right? Third Bullet: Our profession is diverse, demanding, and wide open to scrutiny. We continuously interact under a variety of conditions with a myriad of people. Every negative action, exposed to the public, establishes an impression or perception about every professional in our industry. If you loose your cool mistakes can be made.
- #10 First Bullet: Use good manners when you interact with others. Treat everyone with respect and dignity. Mutual respect and sincerity will create an atmosphere of understanding and empathy in our professional relationships. Second Bullet: Whether dealing with peers, subordinates, customers, take the time to both receive and provide feedback. Demonstrating sincere interest reinforces professional relationships. Third Bullet: Take care when working on customer’s aircraft. It leaves a lasting impression if the customer observes the extra effort to protect painted surfaces and interior upholstery when performing maintenance. Keep the work area clean and neat because that’s what professionals do. Besides you never know when the customer may pop in to do a “how goes it” visit. Use and treat company tools, supplies and equipment as if they were yours or you were paying for them. All these actions separate the professional technician from the “shade tree” mechanics. It’s called pride in your profession! Take care of your tools and they will take care of you.
- #11 First Bullet: A means or manner of procedure that is a regular and systematic way of accomplishing tasks. As a professional mechanic, we take pride in following procedures to accomplish the task in a systematic way that insures safety is not compromised. Second Bullet: The manufacture spends a great deal of time and money to publish an orderly or systematic arrangement of actions to perform effective maintenance actions. We understand these procedures must be followed to maintain the airworthiness of the product. Third Bullet: All tasks are performed using approved or accepted procedures. Certain procedures are approved by the FAA to accomplish critical tasks as structural repairs. Accepted procedures are those recognized by the FAA and industry as having been a standard practice to complete certain task. Examples can be found in Advisory Circular 43.13-1B “Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices - Aircraft Inspection and Repair”.
- #12 First Bullet: When reading procedures do you always find them clear and concise? Probably not. Now the question is what do you do about it. Don’t modify them. Don’t assume their meaning or intent. Don’t ignore them. Rather you should communicate, with your company, the FAA, or the manufacturer to be sure. This too is an attribute of a professional. Second Bullet: We are human and can forget things. Use a checklist to keep focused. Whether mandatory or not, used effectively a checklist keep you compliant and out of trouble. Third Bullet: Establish personal minimum performance guide lines. The FAA SAFETY Team (FAAST) has produced a free handy document called the “Personnel Minimum Checklist”. It contains questions you should ask yourself BEFORE and AFTER each task. You can print a copy off faasafety.gov. Get one and use it. We have the professional obligation to meet the acceptable, methods, techniques, and practices of the aviation industry. This coupled with our field of knowledge, tooling, and test equipment ensure the airworthiness of the products we work on. Fourth Bullet: How well you plan, organize, and research will affect how well the task is done. This is especially true when encountering a new problem or repair activity. Before you start “wrenching” be sure you have read and understand the procedures, have all required tools and equipment and are confident you can handle the task.
- #13 First Bullet: Before a n individual is issued an FAA Airman Certificate, they must acquire and demonstrate certain level of knowledge and proficiency. Once the certificate is in hand, the professional aviation mechanic now owns a tremendous obligation, responsibility as well as liability. They must be familiar and comply with specific federal regulations and subject to frequent FAA oversight. Their signature carries a tremendous clout in approval for return to service. The signature means the product worked on meets airworthy requirement and is safe for operation! Second Bullet: Although the professional AMT is required to follow procedures and regulations it is only their integrity and work ethics that inspire them to do so all the time. This is a challenge but that’s what separates the pro from the novice. Third bullet: The professional mechanic must abide by the highest moral principles. If we make mistakes people can be fatally injured. The results of immoral behavior can be quickly swept into the news media which has the potential to tarnish the reputation of aircraft maintenance profession. Our daily actions must not be governed by the threat of a violation but rather the pride of doing our job the best we can.
- #14 First Bullet: In addition to regulations and manufacturer procedures, maintenance professionals must be aware of myriad of industry standards. Standards are generally accepted as reliable or authoritative such as weights and measures or torque values. Second Bullet: Standards means quality. Professional aviation technicians know this and apply them frequently in the course of their careers. To do otherwise is a practice professionals should not tolerate. Third Bullet: Maintenance documentation is driven by standards too. These standards are delineated in the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR’s). The FAR’s impose maintenance record responsibilities to both the owner of the aircraft and the professional mechanic. The professional mechanic should take pride in documenting their work and entering their signature into the record. .
- #15 Discipline: To do the job completely by the “book”. If the “book” is unclear, misleading or appears inaccurate then discuss with somebody before YOU make a decision on your own and it ends up being the wrong decision. Report the anomaly to the FAA or to the manufacturer or better yet both. Organized: Be prepared, pre-plan well to have all the stuff you need to complete the task correctly. Do comprehensive research. If you are going to work on a small general aviation aircraft have a pre-maintenance or pre-inspection meeting with the aircraft owner. Each of you need to be clear on each others expectations up front………….not in the middle of the job. Trained: Stay trained. Take available maintenance courses. Become familiar with available FAA and Manufacturer safety information relating to the product you will work on. Honesty: Can say much about this that you don’t already know. This affects your reputation as a professional. Be humble and don’t be intimidated when admitting “you don’t know”. Nobody likes a know it all…………………….especially when they know you don’t! Trustworthy: This is an absolute must in our profession. Whether they are conscious of it or not, the public places a tremendous level of trust on the professional aviation technician. Every moment you are working and when your sign off that work, you got to feel confident airworthiness or safety is not compromised.
- #16 Discuss each bullet. Engage audience to share their thoughts comments
- #17 This one statement sums up what professionals do. There are a number of influences that challenge and tempt you not to do this. For example, the special tool is not available, the torque wrench is not calibrated, your maintenance manual is three revisions behind, the boss wants the aircraft ready three days earlier than planned or the owner of the aircraft wants you to skip the retraction check during the annual inspection, etc, etc, etc. The issue here is what do you do when confronted by these challenges and temptations. Bottom line is you are the ONLY one that makes the decision how you end up doing you job.
- #18 Offer opportunity for Q&A; Promote each bullet item. Feedback welcome via phone, e-mail or using our feedback link: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/stakeholder_feedback/afs/field/sf_faasteam/