Fatigue at Sea in Swedish Shipping-A Field Study
Journal article, 2010
Background Today many merchant ships sail with only two nautical officers, working a shift schedule of 6 hr on and 6 hr off There are concerns that such a shift schedule is related to fatigue. However, little data exist from onboard studies of seafarers. Methods Data were collected on board 13 ships. Fifteen participants worked on a 6-on, 6-off watch system. and another 15 on a 4-on, 8-off watch system. Electrooculography, actigraphy, diaries, and reaction time tests were used to measure the effects of shift system on fatigue and sleep. Results and Conclusions Sleepiness was higher during the night shift in the 6-on, 6-off system. Moreover, sleepiness increased more during the watch in the 6-on, 6-off system compared to the 4-on, 8-off system. There was a trend toward shorter sleep episodes in the 6-on, 6-off system and sleep was more often split into two episodes.
performance
fatigue
merchant vessels
schedules
psychological functions
driver fatigue
watchkeepers
seafarers
accident risk
circadian-rhythms
work
sleep
subjective sleepiness
shift work
Author
Margareta Lützhöft
Chalmers, Shipping and Marine Technology, Division of Maritime Operations
Anna Dahlgren
Chalmers, Shipping and Marine Technology, Division of Maritime Operations
Albert Kircher
Chalmers, Shipping and Marine Technology, Division of Maritime Operations
B. Thorslund
The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
M. Gillberg
Karolinska Institutet
American Journal of Industrial Medicine
0271-3586 (ISSN) 1097-0274 (eISSN)
Vol. 53 7 733-740Areas of Advance
Transport
Subject Categories
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
DOI
10.1002/ajim.20814