ADS Position Statement ‘Medical Certification of Persons with Insulin-treated Diabetes in the Aviation Industry’
This is the first ADS supported position statement to address medical certification of diabetes in the workplace. The main focus of this document is the aviation industry, but these guidelines may be adapted to other industries such as the defence force, police force and heavy vehicle drivers as required, although different levels of risk may apply in industries other than the aviation industry. We focus on insulin-treated persons with diabetes (both type 1 and type 2).
Authorship
Dr Jennifer Snaith
Dr Jeremy Robinson
Clinical Associate Professor D. Jane Holmes-Walker
Executive Summary
1. The certification and operational rules for pilots with diabetes vary across the globe. These guidelines are strict and are guided by principles of risk of medical incapacitation.
2. Ensuring aviation safety is a paramount for public safety, but this should be balanced with the freedom and fair assessment of persons with diabetes in the workplace.
3. There is a need to update regulatory guidelines to account for advancements in diabetes treatment and technologies that assist in reducing incapacitation risk and to enable persons with diabetes to demonstrate safety to fly.
4. Review of Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s current diabetes certification policy is recommended.
5. The principles of this review could be used to guide protocols in other safety-sensitive workplaces (such as defence personnel, police force, heavy rigid long-distance truck drivers).
