Fighting fatigue onboard: Industry efforts seem fruitful

Fatigue is a hazard that impacts safety, health and well-being. A long-term fatigue may result in health disorders (physical and mental), insidious onset, persists over time, multi-factor causes, significantly affects behavior and wellbeing. Considering the hectic work schedule of seafarers, fatigue can of course be a significant issue. SAFETY4SEA asked seafarers about fatigue on its crew wellness survey, and the results are encouraging as the majority of seafarers feel ‘’fully rested’’ on a daily basis.

During Q4 2019 SAFETY4SEA conducted a survey on crew wellness, gathering responses from a total of 9,768 seafarers, serving onboard 1,072 ships. The survey was aiming to assess five key aspects of wellness for seafarers: Social, Emotional, Physical, Intellectual and Spiritual. In this article we will focus on the physical and emotional parts, and specifically fatigue and its consequences.

The survey included two specific questions related to fatigue:

• How often do you feel full of energy? and
• How often do you wake up fresh and fully rested?

Answers in both the questions were very encouraging, but let’s break them down.

How often do you feel full of energy?

Based on the seafarers’ answers, the survey concluded that a staggering 84.1% are satisfied with the levels of fatigue, meaning that they are rested enough. More specifically:

• 60.2% feel full of energy on a daily basis;
• 25.1% feel full of energy frequently, on a weekly basis;
• 6.9% are undecided;
• 6.2% answered that they feel full of energy on a very limited, few occasions;
• 1.6% never feels full of energy.

How often do you wake up fresh and fully rested?

When questioned how often they wake up fresh and fully rested, levels of satisfaction fell a little bit, albeit remaining at high levels, as 80.2% answered that they are satisfied. Namely:

• 53.8% wake up fresh and fully rested on a daily basis;
• 27.6% wake up fresh and fully rested frequently, on a weekly basis;
• 8.6% answered that they wake up fresh and full of energy on a very limited, few occasions;
• 7.1% are undecided;
• 2.9% never wake up fresh and fully rested.

Industry’s attempts seem to be paying off

Is fatigue something to worry about? Yes of course, it is a great matter of concern among the industry. However, did MLC play a key role in respect of work and rest hours, in order to fight fatigue and give seafarers the opportunity to rest? As revealed from the survey, yes.

This is evident as we take into consideration the question ‘’How often do you wake up fresh and fully rested?’’, in which the satisfaction level was 80.2%, with the 53.8% of seafarers answering ‘’On a daily basis’’.

In addition, the positive effect of MLC is also visible on the question ‘’How often do you feel full of energy?’’, in which participants answered that they feel full of energy every day, in a percentage of 60.2. In fact, more than half of the participants feel fresh and rested every day onboard, while less than 3% of the answers received stated that they never feel rested or full of energy.

In general, it is safe to conclude from the results, that industry’s steps towards fighting fatigue onboard have brought a considerable change to life onboard.

Fatigue on shipping

Today, it is considered that there are two different types of fatigue:

1. Physical fatigue when a person finds it physically hard to do the things they normally do or used to do; it includes muscle weakness and diagnosis may involve a strength test.

2. Mental fatigue when a person finds it harder to concentrate on things and stay on task. The person may feel sleepy or have difficulty staying awake while working.

Taking this into consideration, IMO notes that fatigue is a problem for all 24-hour-a-day transportation modes and industries, including the maritime industry. However, operational aspects associated with the maritime industry are also more complex than those associated with other industries. In fact, IMO has published 8 key aspects of fatigue, as per its Guidelines of Fatigue [MSC.1/ Circ.1598]:

#1 Sleep

In order to satisfy the needs of the human body, sleep must have quality, quantity, and continuity to be most effective.

#2 Body Clock and the circadian rhythm

We are biologically programmed to be active during the day and to sleep at night. Each individual has a body clock which regulates body’s circadian rhythm.

#3 Time awake

The longer an individual has been awake, the poorer their performance; alertness and performance levels begin to decrease.

#4 Jet lag

The body clock will eventually adapt to a new time zone; however, depending on the new schedule, it takes several days to adjust.

#5 Workload

Fatigue resulting from workload becomes an increasing concern when combined with long periods of wakefulness and long duty hours.

#6 Stress

Stress occurs when a person is confronted with a situation that poses a threat, and the individual becomes aware of his/her inability to cope.

#7 Health

Healthy lifestyle choices such as good physical fitness and a healthy diet have been reported to reduce fatigue and improve alertness and performance.

#8 Individual differences

People can be characterized as morning or evening types depending on the period of the day when they perform at their best.

Addressing imbalanced workload

For life onboard, it is important to determine in advance all duties combined with efficient management of work and rest hours.

However, there’s more to workload than physical tasks. Lately, more and more people have been shedding light on mental workload; in fact, it’s not just the actual physical workload that leads to burnout, but also the emotional labor too.

7 Tips for balancing workload

1. Set priorities
2. Do one thing at a time
3. Delegate tasks
4. Ask for help
5. Control your devices
6. Take breaks
7. Keep a list of your tasks