As world leaders in aviation safety, we like to challenge the norms and push back the barriers to understanding aviation safety issues. Browse our library of industry-leading Thought Leadership Papers, articles and informative materials to help you develop your own views.
2026
By Bob Simmons
Why the European Military Airworthiness Requirements have moved from harmonisation project to operational necessity, and what separates a functioning airworthiness system from paper compliance.
2021
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
This information sheet will help you to understand your personal sleep need and the common reasons why so many people are getting inadequate sleep. The information sheet also describes what constitutes good sleep quality and how sleep changes with age.
2020
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
Sleep is a foundation of emotional wellbeing. As Jojo Jensen said, ‘without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds'. Reading this information sheet will help you to understand why getting enough sleep is paramount for our mood and mental health. You will also learn how light influences our sleep and mood. In this information sheet, the words "mood" and "emotion" are used interchangeably.
2024
By Kevin Hopwood
The evolution of both design and manufacture has taken us to a new place where we can only marvel at the ability of today’s (and tomorrows) aircraft and their capabilities. Collectively though we must ensure that the standards for safety keep pace with the developments we have witnessed.
2023
By Duane Kritzinger
The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the challenges of "hazard identification" and "risk management" throughout the supply chain.
2023
By Sarah Booth and Dr Cristina Ruscitto
This paper is designed to provide an overview of fatigue risk management for operators in Part 145 maintenance organisations with a focus on understanding fatigue risk.
2023
By Sarah Booth and Dr Cristina Ruscitto
This paper is designed to provide an overview of fatigue risk management guidance and what that means in practical terms for operators in the energy industry.
2023
By Sarah Booth and Dr Cristina Ruscitto
This paper is designed to provide an overview on increasing the maturity of airline Fatigue Risk Management (FRM) and how to undertake safety cases.
2023
By Sarah Booth and Dr Cristina Ruscitto
This paper is designed to provide an overview of fatigue risk management guidance and what that means in practical terms for operators in the UK Heavy and Light Rail Industry.
2023
By Sarah Booth and Dr Cristina Ruscitto
This paper aims to explain the principles of fatigue risk management, and why the approach is increasingly being regulated for around the world.
2023
By Cristina Ruscitto
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that combines dissatisfaction with sleep, with a significant negative impact on daytime functioning. Dissatisfaction with sleep is further defined as difficulty initiating and/or maintaining sleep, or non-restorative sleep, on at least three nights per week for at least three months, despite adequate opportunity to sleep.
2023
By Paul White
What does planning ‘properly’ mean to you? What does it mean to your industry peers and how aligned is your understanding with theirs?
2022
By James Hayton
As a safety consultancy with its roots embedded in the aviation sector, it is very easy to forget that a lot of the processes and practices we help organisations implement and develop are just as applicable to many other safety-critical industries.
2022
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
Breaks are important because they allow workers to recover from the mental and physical demands of their positions. Breaks outside of the workday allow for sleep, facilitate rest and recovery, improve morale, and ensure safe, efficient operations. Breaks within the workday reduce task-related fatigue, risk of accidents, and improve productivity.
2022
By Dr Alexandra Holmes
The information sheet provides advice on how you can get more sleep, and how you can use a positive attitude towards sleep to help your team to sleep more too.
2022
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
By understanding how sleep changes over childhood, parents and caregivers can support their children to sleep well and spot signs that a child may be struggling with a sleep problem. This information sheet will helpadults to understand and, where necessary, improve the sleep of pre- school and school-aged children, to foster good physical and mental health for the whole family.
2022
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
According to the National Sleep Foundation, the ideal sleep range for an older adult (>65 years) is between 7 and 8 hours but 5-6 or 9 hours sleep a night is appropriate for some.1 Figure 1 shows that the ideal sleep duration of older adults does not decrease significantly from that of adults aged 26- 64, e.g. 7 to 9 hours per night.
2022
By Dr Alexandra Holmes
In this article, you will read why sleep is important for teens’ cognition and mental health, why many teenagers do not sleep enough, and what you can do to help your teen to get more sleep of high quality. If you are worried that your teenager is tired and not sleeping enough, you may be right. Teenagers should sleep 8 to 10 hours, but research suggests that two in three teenagers sleep less than 8 hours per night.
2021
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
This information sheet is for office workers and shift workers and describes the daily lifestyle patterns or routines we can use to cope with social jetlag and improve sleep. Advice on daily routines with reference to light exposure, meals and exercise is provided.
2021
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
Technological developments have recently enabled us to track our own sleep using easily accessible devices. There are many sleep trackers available to purchase for individuals to use, including wrist-worn smart watches, headbands, smartphone apps, bedroom monitors, and ‘smart’ pillows or smart rings.
2021
By Dr Alexandra Holmes
It is easy to assume that to be successful and productive, it is necessary to work long hours and sacrifice sleep. However, this assumption is overly simplistic and ignores the financial losses that are incurred when people do not obtain adequate sleep. Sleep loss increases the rates of accidents, workplace injuries and absenteeism.
2020
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
If you are struggling to fall asleep or you lie awake during the night because of worry and anxiety, this information sheet is for you. Reading this will help you to understand how, over a period of time, negative thoughts can become negative beliefs that affect how we cope with ongoing sleep difficulties, and how changing how we think about a sleep problem can improve the way we cope with it to improve our quality of life.
2020
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
As we age, sleep becomes more fragile and we are more likely to encounter difficulty sleeping. As part of the normal ageing process our body changes and this can impact sleep. In addition, juggling work and family responsibilities can affect how much, and how well, we sleep.
2020
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
Do you like to go to bed early and wake up early, or do you prefer to go to bed and wake up late? Reading this information sheet will help you to understand your genetic preference for sleep timing, known as your circadian type, and the benefits of trying to match your work hours and lifestyle to your type.
2020
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
Sleep is the foundation of good health and relationships. Because good sleep powers alertness and decision making, and is key to our health and wellbeing, it is important for us all, but many of us do not obtain the sleep we need.
2020
By Baines Simmons
We think of sleep as something we do ‘on our own’ but this is hardly the case if we consider that most people sleep with a partner or share accommodation with family, friends or colleagues, have pets, have neighbours, and most importantly are part of a larger community with whom they share a set of values, beliefs and behaviours.
2020
By Baines Simmons
Working for extended hours, whether through a shift system, overtime, on-call, or catching up on work at home following a day in the office, can potentially result in fatigue through sleep loss.
2020
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
Whether you work shifts or 9-5, if you are not sleeping well, this information sheet will help you to decide what to do next, and who you can contact for professional support.
2020
By Baines Simmons
Over the last 30 years, technology has revolutionised the world of office-based work. Computers now dominate the workspace, and the advancement of communication technologies has enabled companies to keep running during Covid-19, with new working practices established and employees working from home.
2020
By Baines Simmons
Breaks allow workers to recover from the mental and physical demands of their positions. Breaks outside of the workday allow for sleep, facilitate rest and recovery, improve morale, and ensure safe, efficient operations.
2019
By Duane Kritzinger
Duane Kritzinger (Principal Consultant and Part 21 Subject Matter Expert) represented Baines Simmons at the Product Certification & Design Organisation Approval workshop in Cologne.
2019
By Dr Cristina Ruscitto
An estimated 22% of the world’s population fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In all countries, fasting individuals do not eat, drink, or smoke from sunrise to sunset. This infosheet looks at the impact on sleep
2019
By Eric Hoogendijk, Ian Holder, Baines Simmons
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is an integral part of the journey for more than 32 million people a year, providing scheduled passenger and cargo services to 144 destinations globally through its fleet of 160 aircraft.
2017
By Ian Holder
EU376 (The reporting, analysis and follow up of occurrences in Aviation) is a powerful piece of regulation, which supports all organisations in the aviation sector across Europe as a whole in improving safety through reporting and learning.
2017
By Baines Simmons
Fatigue is increasingly considered as one of the most significant hazards to aviation safety and other safety-critical industries. As an illustration, the term ‘fatigue’ has appeared in the NTSB ‘Most Wanted’ list for over two decades.
2016
By Bob Simmons
The easiest way to realise the full potential benefits is for every EDA participating Member State to adopt the EMARs in their purest form, bringing instant standardisation and harmonisation.
2011
By David Innes
The easiest way to realise the full potential benefits is for every EDA participating Member State to adopt the EMARs in their purest form, bringing instant standardisation and harmonisation.
2010
By Neil Richardson
The modern-day challenges faced by the aviation industry are plenty; many focus on the performance of human beings in complex systems. Appropriate behaviour of personnel is key to contributing to systemic safety, but this requires a clear understanding of not only Human Factors, but also the basic concepts of, and relationships between, Airworthiness and Maintenance.
2009
By Charles Haddon-Cave QC
An independent review into the broader issues surrounding the loss of the RAF Nimrod MR2 Aircraft XV230 in Afghanistan in 2006
