Trans RINA, Vol 156, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jan -Dec2014
conducted in this field. Seafarers work in an environment with a number of factors commonly associated with fatigue. Long working hours, sleep disturbance and night work are all present alongside factors unique to the industry such as ship motion and noise. Working 24 hour shift patterns on a moving vessel poses a number of obstacles to gaining sufficient restorative sleep. Hence the key factors associated with fatigue in the maritime industry are: circadian rhythms; working patterns and shift schedules; noise and motion; sleep. The potential for fatigue amongst seafarers is high.
Disruption in circadian rhythms can result in drowsiness which has significant implication for activities such as watch keeping, or conversely being awake when you need to be sleeping, thereby exacerbating fatigue due to reduced sleeping hours. The majority of seafarers also do shift work resulting in a greater potential for disruption to circadian rhythms. A study of the impact of fragmented work schedules on alertness in seafarers showed a circadian dip in alertness during the night and also a pronounced afternoon dip which raises concern in terms of accident risk (Allen, Wadsworth, and Smith, [30]). The MAIB 'Bridge Watch keeping Safety Study' of 2004 concluded that fatigue was a contributory factor in 82% of the groundings in the study, which occurred between 00:00 and 06:00 hours.
Fatigue is compounded by factors such as minimal manning; sequences of rapid turnarounds and short sea passages; adverse weather and traffic conditions. The effects of stress, fatigue and health factors associated with long
periods away hours and from home, limited
communication and consistently high workloads result not only in reduced performance but also ill-health and reduced life-span. There is a significant body of research into working
conditions and their
consequences on performance in rail, road transport and civil aviation sectors, where safety and human error are key concerns. This research from other transport sectors has the potential to inform innovation in the commercial marine sector. There are many more fatigue preventing regulations in other transport sectors, with the issue of fatigue being approached in a more systematic manner. They therefore offer an opportunity for innovation and technology transfer in the prevention and management of fatigue
at sea. The approaches enforcement, awareness campaigns, of: regulation, training, and
guidance, are all potential areas of improvement given the differential in current practices between the maritime sector and other sectors. A study by Starren et al. [31] on preventing and managing fatigue in the shipping industry made a number of insightful recommendations. They proposed that
the transfer or delegation of tasks can
restructure crew members’ workload in such a way that major errors and incidents may be less likely to occur. They
proposed that the delegation or workload
redistribution would be the most effective if it was contextualized as a part of a Fatigue Risk Management System (FMRS).
1.3 SHIP DESIGN CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
As the design of commercial vessels evolves and crew sizes diminish, greater emphasis should be placed upon the human factors input in order to ensure safety and efficiency
food. In
during both routine and emergency
operations. Severe ship motions limit the human ability to operate command and control and communication systems, navigate, prepare
such operations as degradation leading to overall
decrement and increased potential for injury (Dobbie, [32]). Many ship design features can impact on the cognitive workload on-board while others affect the crew’s ability to sleep and the level
of stress.
Appropriate implementation of automation is important in terms of reduced workload; low stress automation can facilitate the work of the seafarers due to less time being required to accomplish a task and effortless operation of equipment aboard ship. Moreover, spending up to six months aboard ship, subject to harsh weather, the life of the seafarers is heavily dependent
on the ship’s
equipment reliability which is a crucial factor leading to fatigue [29]. Sleep and rest are essential components underlying good (safe) performance, hence the physical comfort in work and quarters are important features of the ship design vital in alleviating fatigue. Ship motion (instability) caused mainly by poor design of a vessel can also influence the level of
tiredness and fatigue [32].
Features such as noise within the ship have been defined to be an important cause of fatigue at sea. Noise is caused mainly by the engine operation, ventilation and ship motion during harsh weather. Another internal feature contributing to fatigue is vibration caused by the engine and ship motion leading to the tiredness of the seafarer [29]. Allen, Wadsworth, and Smith [30] reported on a study which found that exposure to ship engine noise at 65 dB (A) can have an adverse effect on sleep.
The working conditions in the engine room (ER) are demanding due to the thermal climate, noise and challenging working postures. The working practices in the engine
control significant changes
room (ECR) have over recent years,
perceive their introduction of computer systems. Lundh et al
undergone with the [33]
carried out a study to identify the impact of these changes. The aim of which was to understand how the engine crew
work situation and
environment, and to enable them to identify areas for improvement. The results of the study show that the design of the ECR and ER are crucial for how different tasks are performed. Design which does not support operational procedures and how tasks are performed risk inducing inappropriate behaviour as the crew members’ are compelled to find alternative ways to perform their tasks in order to get the job done. These types of behaviour can induce an increased risk of exposure to
perform routine maintenance and an emergency,
refuelling at sea and damage control can be severely hampered. In addition, ship motion can cause significant mental
performance
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©2014: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects
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