safety-alert-fatigue

[Alert! The Nautical Institute, Lloyds Register, Educational Trust, VIDEOTEL] [Issue 13: Fatigue] [Time to wake up to the consequences of Fatigue] Sorry. You know, there's nothing like the few hours sleep [STEPHEN HENRY] to freshen you up, sharpen the senses, I mean, it's a hard life, and we need our proper rest. But in our business, well, let's just say that sometimes that causes problems. And that's exactly what we'll be looking at in this issue of Alert! [Time to wake up to the consequences of Fatigue] Many accident investigation reports these days will have fatigue as one of the main causes. A grounding or a collision, for example, caused by lack of attention by a fatigued officer, his lack of sleep, the result of an unreasonable watch pattern, and an excessive workload on top of his watchkeeping duties. But minimum manning and watchkeeping patterns are not the only causes of fatigue. There's a whole variety of environmental, operational, physiological, and psychological factors that can, in one way or another, affect the health and performance of every person on board. The IMO guidelines on fatigue mitigation and management provide practical advice on how to combat fatigue, essential reading for those stakeholders involved in the design, management, and operation of ships. [Endurance risk factors] And something else that should be seriously considered is the US Coast Guard's, Crew Endurance Management Program which identifies the factors effecting crew endurance and the specific risks that relate to ship operations. And there's a lot of other important work going on. The Cardiff research programme on seafarer fatigue shows that the consequences of fatigue are not only felt in terms of impaired performance and reduced safety, but also in decreased wellbeing and increased risk of mental health problems. Both of which are known to be risk factors for future chronic disease. Another study concludes, the fatigue may be a factor in 11% to 23% of collisions and groundings. And it proposes a number of measures to reduce it, such as the proper implementation of ISM Code and of the Maritime Labour Convention. The optimization of the organization of work on board, the reduction of administrative tasks. And the lengthening of one of the resting periods for 24 hours. There is no doubt, the deft way to reduce fatigue and at the same time prevent accidents, we need a process, and that process must be properly managed. The most important thing in fatigue management is education, equipping those at sea and on shore to better organize workplaces, systems, and their personal lives to mitigate causes and effects of fatigue. This must include the people who make policy decisions and allocate resources. Accident investigations typically reveal a chain of responsibility [DAVID SQUIRE, FNI Editor ALERT!] extending well beyond the fatigue seafarer who falls asleep or makes a mistake. In fatigue management, making the chain of responsibility explicit is essential. Those at the top must make their expectations clear through a form of policy statement. Equally important is the need for regular feedback of information from the ship to management at shore. [Designing to Deal with Fatigue] When it comes to mitigating fatigue, the management of hours of work could well be the most critical element and the most costly should an accident occur. But let's not forget the design and construction stages of a vessel which can produce a lifelong benefit to the onboard welfare of the crew. If we don't take proper account of crew wellbeing within the design concept, especially with regard to the debilitating effects of noise, temperature, motion, vibrations, intensity of lighting etcetera, all we do is end up making a significant and irreversible contribution to the underlying cause of fatigue. It is time to wake up to the consequences of fatigue because those consequences can be costly and in some cases, deadly. That's it for this issue. Visit the website if you want to find out what other marine professionals have to say. Hope to see you again soon. And in the meantime, try and get some rest, eh? [If you are in any way involved in the design operation or support of ships and their systems,] [you have a role to play.] [All the Alert! bulletins can be downloaded from the Alert! website.] [www.he-alert.org]