Many aspects of security positions require the discernment of colors to determine meaning. Air traffic controllers, Transportation Security Officers, pilots, and unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operators, are just a sampling of jobs involving safety and security that use color identification to assist in their crucial decision making. Color is used in these and many other work environments to focus attention on targets, conflict alerts, urgent information, and even possible explosive or dangerous elements.
Human color vision is NOT a permanent ability. People born with normal color vision can have their color vision degrade over time due to a variety of causes. These can include alcohol use; medication toxicity (including aspirin, cortisone, estrogen, and some medicines used to treat Covid and high blood pressure); eye diseases; and environmental factors (e.g., discoloration of the cornea due to cigarette smoke).
Statistically, up to 8% of males (and 0.5% of females) are born with a genetic color-vision deficiency (Simunovic, 2016). In addition to this, up to 15% of the of the normal population (male and female) will have an acquired color deficiency in their lifetime. This means that 15–19% of the American population does not have the ability to see the full color spectrum of visible light.
The United States Navy conducted research into how color vision affects the ability of pilots to identify other planes as “friend” or “foe.” This research showed not only that color vision affects the number of times a person can correctly identify a color, but also the speed of identification, also called reaction time. Pilots with normal color vision and mild defects had faster reactions times when doing color-related tasks than those with moderate or severe defects (Wright, 2004).
To estimate the scale of the current problem, we use the following math. Sixteen of every 200 males, and one of every 200 females, have a genetic color-vision deficiency. Using the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) as an example, of approximately 50,000 TSOs, this would mean that 2,5001 would be expected to have a genetic color-vision deficiency if there were no screenings. The current screening protocol is 50% effective (Evans, 2021), so we estimate about 1,250 (2.5%) color-vision-deficient (CVD) TSOs are in the workforce today after the pre-employment screening.
There are many color-vision deficiency assessments that are faster, more accurate and economical, and would be expected to reduce the number of CVD TSOs from the currently estimated 1,250 to 25 (0.05% of the TSO population). Effectively, a 50-fold improvement in color-based vision TSO screening performance. That improvement is even before screening the estimated 2,4382 with acquired color-vision deficiencies (an additional improvement should that be added as an ongoing assessment). Color-vision screening using precision color-vision tests, coined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will reduce the liability of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and its employees, while increasing the overall security posture and the talent pool.
Using state-of-the-art color-vision assessments will not only positively impact performance, but assist in hiring job candidates with the required color vision. It also will provide existing employees an early indicator of emerging, acquired color-vision deficiencies, which can indicate the four leading causes of blindness (age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma), thus improving employee healthcare.
Currently, the FAA has required the use of one of three new color-vision assessments for certain classes of employees as of January 1, 2025, and other countries are adopting more effective and efficient color-vision assessments for their current workforce and for new-hire candidates. Other U.S. federal organizations that have already started using high-precision, color-vision tests in employee screenings include National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and more. These assessments can identify those employees that have developed a color deficiency, which will enable operations to adjust resources to ensure accurate threat detection is not weakened and security performance does not suffer.
References:
Evans, B. E., Rodriguez‐Carmona, M., & Barbur, J. L. (2021). Color vision assessment‐1: visual signals that affect the results of the Farnsworth D‐15 test. Color Research & Application, 46(1), 7-20.
Simunovic, M. P. (2016). Acquired color vision deficiency. Survey of Ophthalmology, 61(2), 132–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.survophthal.2015.11.004
Wright, S. (2004). Color Vision and Aviation [PowerPoint slides]. USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Ophthalmology Branch.
Appendix: CVD TSA Officer Estimates: Current vs Recommended Precision Testing
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) | Total Workforce | Male (60%) | Female (40% ) |
Population (#) | 50000 | 30000 | 20000 |
Genetic CVD (%) | 8% | 0.05% | |
Genetic CVD (#) | 2500 | 2400 | 100 |
Current Screening (%) | 50% | 50% | 50% |
Genetic CVD applicants failed (current) | 1250 | 1200 | 50 |
Genetic CVD applicants passed (current) | 1250 | 1200 | 50 |
Precision Screening % | 99% | 99% | 99% |
Genetic CVD applicants failed (precision) | 2475 | 2376 | 99 |
Genetic CVD applicants passed (precision) | 25 | 24 | 1 |
Genetic CVDs currently passing hiring screener | 1250 | ||
Genetic CVDs passing a precision CV screener | 25 | ||
Acquired CVD workforce (up to 15%; est. 5%) – Not Screened by TSA today | 2438 |