IFATCA Policy is:

Local medical centres should be established for the examination of the ATC personnel. A National Medical Body should be established as the General Authority for determining questions of fitness of controllers whose fitness is questioned by the local centres.

Controllers should be afforded recourse to examination by independent medical specialists of their choice where permanent medical unfitness is indicated by earlier examination.

The cost of the examinations should be borne by the ANSP.

To avoid deterioration of the working conditions, all factors influencing those working conditions should be regularly and frequently inspected by the appropriate medical authorities.

Advice should be sought from competent medical authorities about any building or equipment programme. Such advice should be acted upon and applied also to existing ACC, APP and TWR units.

Competent medical authorities should be consulted as well as air traffic controllers themselves, to obtain their views on job organisation.

Each member association should carry out medical studies on the cause of stress among air traffic controllers, and investigate methods of prevention of such stress as well as diagnosing and treating its manifestations.

Air traffic controllers should be provided with adequate protection measures designed to prevent loss of licence on medical grounds.

The medical requirements for ATC licensing shall be stated by the appropriate authorities and should be based on the criteria laid down in Annex 1 to the ICAO Convention.

The medical system should be geared to selection, and be capable of detecting any medical deficiencies in controllers before their ab-initio training.

In the interest of safety, a system of initial and regular follow-up medical examinations specifically for controllers is essential.

The medical system should be detecting any deterioration in the controllers’ health as early as possible and preventing such deterioration wherever possible.

The medical system should be providing for thorough and regular monitoring of the controllers’ health throughout their careers.

The air traffic controllers should, at their request, be entitled to have their medical file forwarded to their own physician.

National administrations should consider the health of air traffic controllers by setting up a physical fitness programme open to all controllers on a voluntary basis.

No direct relationship should exist between a physical fitness programme and annual medical examination (if any).

Participation in a physical fitness programme shall have no effect whatsoever on the controller’s annual leave or spare time and the costs involved shall be carried by the employer.

MAs who have information relating to the medical aspects of the ATC profession, which they consider to be of interest, should forward such information to the IFATCA Office.

IFATCA representation should participate at national and / or international aviation medical conferences or seminars whenever this is considered to be relevant to MAs, to be decided by the Executive Board.