| THE WAY FORWARD Action on this needs to be on a number of fronts:
| 1 | We need better designed aircraft, engines and APUs that don’t leak. | | 2 | We need aircraft environmental systems that do not rely on bleed air. | | 3 | We need better, more safer, chemical products to be used in this industry. | | 4 | We need standard, open, non-retributive systems for the reporting of
leaks. | | 5 | Organisations in this industry need to acknowledge their occupational health and safety responsibilities mandated by legislation and develop and implement appropriate systems that allow those responsibilities to be met (because their existing systems don’t). | | 6 | We need such reporting to be recorded and such records openly available. | | 7 | We need risk assessments of exposures that are inclusive of workers and passengers, not exclusive. | | 8 | We need better health systems that treat affected employees with sympathy and respect and not contempt. | | 9 | We need better models for monitoring, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and compensation of affected workers. We need this for the legacy we have of pilots and flight attendants who have been affected, forced out of he industry and have been in the wilderness ever since. | | 10 | And of course, research. We need research into better engineering systems, less toxic chemicals, better diagnosis, better treatment, better risk assessments and epidemiological surveys of employees in the industry. This research must be independently funded and objectively reported. At best, it must be free of bias from vested interests that are so skilful at obscuring the issue. | | 11 | Lastly, where operational systems are inadequate, the regulators need to properly enforce the Civil Air legislation they are charged to enforce. | | 12 | As an example of this, the industry needs to better comply with airworthiness standards for air quality, and stop this mealy-mouthed interpretation of what they say. |
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