The European guide on stress management in air traffic control is now available on skybrary. The guide intends to help air traffic control professionals recognise stress, and identify possible mechanisms to mitigate its effects.
Although the guide was born before the COVID-19 emergency, the pandemic makes it even more meaningful and relevant. In fact, the spread of the virus and its effects on our routines have generated new work-related stress sources. Also, it has brought to light the biological, psychological, social, and economic aspects of well-being in a way we have never seen before. In this light, the guide can work as a tool to improve awareness on the sources of stress, and show how to detect stress signals in oneself and colleagues. The proposed solutions represent a set of possible ways of building individual and organisational resilience to stress. Therefore, it serves as a starting point to be customised to specific situations, not only now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also after the emergency.
Many thanks to Fabrice Drogoul (EUROCONTROL), who co-authored the guide together with our Deep Blue’s colleague Paola Tomasello. For us, the development of the guide is the result of continuous research and training in work-related stress. It feeds from the work we implemented in the EU-funded project Skillful, which we are now following up in skill-UP and other EU projects, as well as in training courses for italian and European transport organizations. Enjoy reading!