In SwedishFatigue
Illustration: Tove Svensson
Every year a number of accidents occur due to officers being tired or even falling asleep on the bridge. A survey carried out by the Swedish Maritime Administration shows that between 15 and 20% of all accidents are related to lack of sleep.
But tiredness is not only a safety issue. It is also related to the work environment, personal health and how people’s bodies are affected by night work and daytime sleep.
The research report “Fatigue at Sea” was published in the summer of 2007 by VTI (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute). It shows that officers are often tired during their watch, sometimes to the extent that they must fight against falling asleep. The problem is greatest on ships with only two nautical officers.
One objective of the research was to compile a list of recommendations for how to reduce tiredness-related problems. In the brochure “Fatigue at Sea” you can read about some of these recommendations, which are soundly based on Swedish and foreign research.
Advice on how to aviod fatigue.
The recommendations are aimed at people working onboard ships, but that does not mean that you are the only person responsible for your situation at work – employers and authorities are involved to a great extent.
The captain is ultimately responsible for compliance with the Act on Resting Time. According to the ISM code, the captain is obliged to write a deviation report every time the Act on Resting Time is infringed.
Download Fatigue at Sea (pdf, 835 kb)
Calculate your tiredness!
Sleep researchers at the Karolinska Institute, together with the Navy and VTI, have developed a computer program called the Sleep Wake Predictor (SWP) to calculate and predict tiredness.
By entering data on how and when individual crewmembers will work and sleep during a crossing, it will provide information on how tired each will be at different times.
SWP can also be used when planning different activities such as training, bunkering and provisioning.
SWP is available at The Swedish Maritime Administration (scroll down for instructions in English).
