Does Crew Resource Management Training Work? An Update, an Extension, and Some Critical Needs.

This paper updates a 2001 study on the state of crew resource management (CRM) training evaluation and looks at how CRM training has been extended beyond aviation. The authors review 28 published accounts of CRM training to determine its effectiveness within aviation, medicine, offshore oil production and maintenance, shipping/maritime and nuclear power domains. Findings indicate that although CRM training generally produced positive reactions from trainees, the impact of training on learning and behavioral changes was mixed across and within domains. The authors also were not able to ascertain whether CRM has had an impact on the organization's bottom line (i.e., safety). These results suggest that there are several critical needs--a mandate, access to data and resources-- that the CRM training community must address before CRM training can have the desired impact on safety.