CRM-Training

The history of aviation shows that it is quite possible that carefully selected and well-trained pilots crashed an aircraft without any technical malfunctions.

Regardless of how skillful we are at our work, we sometimes make mistakes. We can best protect ourselves against mistakes with the support of each other. We can detect each other's mistakes and deal with them before they lead to serious consequences. This is an approach that has been successfully used to improve aviation safety since the 1980s, and CRM training has been regulated as mandatory in the aviation industry since the 1990s.

Crew Resource Management (CRM) was developed by NASA and FAA after a series of unnecessary and catastrophic air accidents occurred in a rapid succession. The underlying causes of these accidents were the mistakes that were generally made by skilled pilots that were not trained in team skills and therefore failed as a crew. In addition, the first officer often noticed the problem, but the crew was not able to protect themselves from the mistake, the problem being linked to authority-issues and communication issues. Similar less optimal behavior is present in other industries as well. The problem can arise in hospitals between doctors and nurses, in companies between the CEO and middle management, in rescue stations between fire/rescue commanders and fire fighters etc. It seems as it is an unfortunate bi-product of people working together but the subpar behavior can be removed by proper training and procedures.

At the core of CRM training is the acceptance that we all make mistakes, but that the number of mistakes can be reduced and the effects of those mistakes can be minimized before they create a disaster. CRM-training teaches us that we are all different, but that can be used to an advantage, through collaboration.

During a CRM-training these are the main topics that are discussed: Human performance and limitations, Leadership, Teamwork, Stress, Information processing, Decision making, Communication, Fatigue, Situational awareness, Threat and error management.

Because of the success of the CRM-concept in the aviation-industry, other industries (military forces, healthcare, offshore, banking, construction etc.) have implemented it or the use of similar types of concepts.