Mind That Trunk!

Some laden-down people have to check their luggage at the gate, but a recent study by the Civil Aviation Authority shows that most people get away with it. But at what cost to their back? Ansgar Kupper investigates.

The CAA research was mainly concerned about the increased injury risk to passengers and crew by hand luggage in case of a crash landing. In a pilot study, commissioned by a major British airline, we studied injury to cabin crew related to their handling of passengers' hand luggage. We gathered data from cabin crew using a questionnaire and we analysed accident and injury reports. We also observed cabin crew in-flight while carrying out handling activities and this information was used to assess the quality of manual handling. We also interviewed passengers to gain an insight into hand luggage expectations.

Results

Several perhaps surprising results emerged from the study:

• Of all cabin crew manual handling injuries, handling passengers’ hand luggage came a close second only after the use of trolleys (the food, drinks and duty free carts);
• On average, cabin crew handle passengers’ hand luggage nearly 5 times per flight. In about half of the instances it is in response to a request by the passenger;
• When asked what they would change about hand luggage that would reduce the associated handling risk, the answer was very simple: make it lighter.

Factors found to contribute to cabin crew injuries included:

• Lax hand luggage check-in controls;
• Unsuitable storage provision on board;
• Inconsistencies between cabin crew in the way they responded to hand luggage storage requests by passengers;
• Over-demanding travellers were identified as exacerbating the problem.

We recommended stricter enforcement of hand luggage policy and a review of procedures and regulations. We also suggested that airlines should rethink the use of storage space on board the aircraft is set up. Finally, we suggested more holistic and applied manual handling training.

Next steps

The next step is to investigate what passengers value so much about hand luggage. With such added knowledge, aircraft manufacturers and airlines will be in a better position to accommodate passenger demands without jeopardising safety.

So next time you are tempted to overload your cabin bag, spare a thought for the cabin crew, your fellow passenger and… your back.

Ansgar Kupper