Human Factors and Safety Management Systems
Human performance
Know the SHELL model (Software, Hardware, Environment, Liveware) and Reason's Swiss cheese model of accident causation. Understand situational awareness, workload, fatigue, stress, communication and teamwork. Know the dirty dozen of human factors (e.g. complacency, distraction, fatigue, pressure, lack of communication).
Safety management
Know the SMS framework: safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance and safety promotion. Understand hazard identification, risk assessment (likelihood × severity), safety occurrence reporting, and just culture. Know the difference between error and violation.
Traps and a rule of thumb
Traps: confusing the SHELL model with the Swiss cheese model; treating a violation as an error; and forgetting that SMS is proactive, not just reactive. Rule of thumb: SHELL describes interfaces, Swiss cheese describes accident causation. Worked example: a controller who forgets to pass a traffic information item due to high workload has made an error; a controller who deliberately shortcuts a procedure has committed a violation.
Communications, Phraseology and Radio Telephony
Standard phraseology
Use ICAO standard phraseology consistently. Know the structure of a call: station called, station calling, message. Understand readback requirements for clearances, and the meaning of "roger", "wilco", "affirm", "negative", "standby", "say again". Know the phonetic alphabet and number pronunciation (e.g. "tree" for three, "fower" for four, "niner" for nine).
Clearances and readback
Know the elements of an ATC clearance: aircraft identification, clearance limit, route, level, and any instructions. Understand conditional clearances and the requirement for full readback. Know frequency change phraseology and handover procedures.
Traps and a rule of thumb
Traps: using non-standard phraseology; omitting the readback of a level or heading; confusing "roger" (received) with "wilco" (will comply); and mispronouncing numbers. Rule of thumb: if it is a clearance, it must be read back; if it is information, "roger" is enough. Worked example: "BAW123, cleared to FL350, climb FL350" must be read back in full; "BAW123, traffic 2 o'clock, 5 miles" may be acknowledged with "roger".