Color Blindness – Reason for a Job Rejection
- Posted by Daniel Flück on May 19th, 2007 filed in Professions
One reader of Colblindor was so kind to write me his story about a job rejection because of his color blindness. It’s not a severe color vision deficiency he is suffering from and the job is mostly down with computer support, but he was still rejected.
Well, yes I was declined for one job for my red-green blindness. It was a job in the area of car paint development (research and development). I have worked in the past in areas that have something to do with color (formulation an equalizations) and it never represented for me a problem (I have to say that some times I noted that some colors were harder to make equal than others, but nothing more…). The doctor said that I wasn’t able to do my job.
By now I am trying to demonstrate that I’m perfectly able to that that job. Principally because the equalizations process doesn’t base upon the only eye of the human, the coloration process is carried on with the support of scientific instrumentation, like colorimeters and spectrometers, a lot of times more objectives and exacts than the weak human eye…
Note: Do you know what is the worse about been rejected for a job? They don’t even tell you why, they just say you…”a problem with the vision” :(
Were you ever rejected for a job because of your color blindness? It would be great to hear more about it.
Contribution by Israel F.F. Thanks a lot.
August 7th, 2007 at 1:35
I was applying for the Marine Corps Aviation Program. Did the 3 mile run in 21 minutes, straight 6’s on the ASTB which is ok and passing, got above the 1000 on the SAT, and was graduating with a double degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. The only thing keeping me out was my missing 2 color cards out of 7 on the second time around. If I got 6 I would have got in, or not. I personally did not know what measure they were using, or why they would bust out with cards testing for anything other than red-green deficits. I was just caught off card because, up until this incident about 2 years ago, I didn’t even know I was color blind I guess. I stop and go at appropriate times at traffic lights, even if they are against the Sun. But then again, I have been paying more attention since then.
August 7th, 2007 at 7:36
John, thanks a lot for contributing your personal story.
A very mild color blindness is often not recognized for a long time, because it doens’t give you any handicap in everyday life. Only performing special color attached tasks can sometimes reveal your weakness.
August 7th, 2007 at 23:47
John,
I’m sorry about your color test. The military has no tolerance for color blindness, as does most of the aviation world. I am a colorblind civilian pilot working my way up the latter towards a position in a major airline. For an aviation medical (req. for all pilots) to be unrestricted by color you must pass at least one color test from a bank of different tests that the FAA has approved. If you do not pass any of them, then you carry a restriction that airlines look down apon, and possibly exempting you from their insurance. Fortunately my opthamologist is a pilot and I ‘passed’ one of the tests.
As for the practicality of Color tests associated with aviation, well there is none. Except for the severly colorblind. The military’s main argument is color recognition of aircraft, and night flying conditions. The FAA’s argument is also about night flying conditions and a very outdated and obsolete argument about light gun use.
August 18th, 2007 at 7:27
I have the same story as John Dorso. I too applied to the Marine Corps OCC program for an Air Contract. I too got a 276 out of 300 PFT score (very good), had over a 1000 on the SAT, scored a 5-6-5 (passing) on the ASTB, and graduated with a double B.S. in Aeronautics and Meteorology. I have a Private Pilot’s license and am Instrument Rated flying civilian. Likewise I have passed all aviation flight medicals receieving a First Class Eval. I took my last medical in 2005 and was able to pass the color blind portion of the exam.
I was sent by the Marine Corps to Pensicola for my flight physical and while there passed all screening except for the PIP (14 plates) and the Farnsworth Falant.
I can distinguish aircraft Nav lights, port from starboard wings during flight. I can shoot an approach, day or night, using either the Tri-color VASI and all versions of the PAPI. I have never landed on a taxiway mistaking it for the runway demonstrating that I can distinguish white from blue color lights. And although having never been forced to use it I can see the color differences in the light gun signals. I can read a sectional and can tell the Magenta from the Blue colors correctly interpreting airspace. I can accurately use all Nav aids and distinguish all signals on the LCD screen of a glass cockpit Garmin 1000. However I can not tell the examiner what number is being displayed in the PIP plate (dots) test. I can see the individual colors on the plate but no clear identifible number jumps off the page at me.
I was accepted into the Corps and merely needed to pass that eye test to achieve a dream that I have been working for all of my 25 years to get. Because of this stupid test that is supposed to identify color deficiencies my dream is gone.
If I can now fly accurately and with no mistake interpret all aviation related colors imperative for flight then why was I NPQ’ed? This test ruined me! Although I can not pass the test, the test,in my opinion, is not a direct indicator that I could not fly accurately.
I strongly advise these medical examiners to understand that these garbage test do not accurately indicate if an individual is capable for flight. These test try to trick your eyes to detect a color deficiency and are successful, however I ask this: Does the real world try to trick your eyes to see something else or are aviation colors crisp, bold, and separated from each other?
The colors on the PIP test are so close in shade to each other that clear identification is impractical. The Farnsworth Falant lights are at 2.9 arc-lum, a level that is so dim and impractical it is like trying to identify the planet Jupiter’s red color with the naked eye standing on Earth’s surface. Again, when is the real world of aviation as difficult as this?
I can fly, but because of some test, in my opinion, that was designed for failure and impractical, my wings, life aspiration, and my career were taken from me.
To all of us Aviators out there ask your self this question: If the point of these exams is to determine if we pilots can accurately distinguish red from green from white as they are used in avaition then why are we tested on such an unrealistic and impractical level when all these physicians need to know is can we distinguish the red lights from the green ones from the white and blue ones AND at the same luminicity and size as they apply during flight?
I am bitter because I am not color deficient, these tests are the deficiency ruining the careers of many aspiring aviators.
Please write to me with any comments, concerns, or experiences you may have at Dallmann_m@yahoo.com.
Thankyou in advance for taking the time to review my post.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:15
Hi, I read your post and am so sorry about your dreams not being realized. My son is in the same position; he passed the light gun test and has an unrestricted license. Now he has been talking about the airforce but I’m pretty sure he will be disapointed. It is unfair that what is good for the FAA is not good enough for the military. I wish you luck in civilian flying though!
April 9th, 2008 at 4:00
Just got rejected from working as a combined rail operator because of my color blindness. My visual acuity was otherwise perfect (depth, near, far, binocular, etc.) The testing physician then gave me 9 bundles of yarn and asked me to identify the colors. No problem: red, green, blue, yellow, off-white, seafoam, purple, and some other subtle shades. Still couldn’t see the numbers on the plates, which represent color schemes which generally do not exist in the real world, and which would never be used in a transportation application. I don’t think they make railway or airline lights so “tricky” to make out. I’ve yet to see a traffic signal set up like a “magic eye” picture. Like somebody said above, it’s a test designed for failure.
June 26th, 2008 at 23:52
I have been skippering fishing vessels for 30 years without incident, in several countries, and have never had a problem with lights shapes or judging a vessels aspect at sea at night or in
poor visibility, yet i have been declined a medical as i cannot satisfactorily pass an isihara test.I now find that my working life and career is at an end .I have yet to see any representation of the shapes and circles/colours present in this test anywhere in real life except in this test.It seems exremely harsh that an individuals life and career/job prospects can be so destroyed by the results of this test.