safety-alert-fatigue
0 (0 Likes / 0 Dislikes)
[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]