Today, the Minister of Transport announced new fatigue regulations to improve air travel safety for passengers and flight crews. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is pleased to see that the Minister is taking action to address this key safety issue.
Since the early 1990s, the TSB has identified fatigue as a contributing factor or a risk in at least 34 air occurrences. In October 2018, the TSB issued a call to action by adding this key safety issue to its Watchlist 2018. More specifically, the TSB asked for updated flight and duty-time regulations, as well as for air operators to implement fatigue risk management systems suited to their specific operations.
The new regulations and standards announced today are a significant step in addressing this key safety issue. We look forward to a timely implementation of the new regulations and continued strong action from both the regulator and industry to reduce the risks associated with fatigue in the air transportation industry.
Fatigue is also a key safety issue in the Rail and Marine transportation industries. The TSB calls upon the Minister to take similar steps to address the risks associated with fatigue in these other industries.
