What is the problem?
Operating a marine vessel requires complex human interaction
as well as an operator’s complete attention and proficient skill.
However, marine operators and other individuals performing safety-sensitive
functions are all too often impaired by fatigue stemming
from insufficient or poor-quality sleep.
Fatigue degrades a person’s ability to stay awake, alert, and attentive
to the demands of safely controlling a vessel. Marine operators
and other individuals performing safety-critical functions may not
recognize the effects of fatigue until it’s too late.
Fatigue is often the result of insufficient sleep. But even when
individuals have enough time to get rest, other issues—such as
medical conditions, unpredictable or inverted work schedules, living
environment, and personal choices—can affect their ability to obtain
quality sleep.
The traveling public can unknowingly and unwillingly be placed at risk
because a fatigued operator cannot safely execute his or her duties.
Despite wide-ranging research and well-publicized information
about the dangers of excessive sleep loss, fatigue continues to be a
leading cause of accidents in all modes of transportation. In marine
transportation, this is particularly true in high-tempo sectors, such
as the fishing industry. Fatigue impacts responsiveness, decision-making
ability, judgment, and productivity.
What can be done?
In February 2019, NTSB deterimined that:
Fatigue is a manageable threat to
transportation safety that can be
mitigated by a combination of science-based
regulations, comprehensive
fatigue risk management programs,
and individual responsibility. Vessel
owners and operators should adopt
policies to mitigate the effects of
fatigue and provide crew sufficient
time for required rest.
To address the problem of fatigue, the following actions should be taken:
Vessel Operators/Industry
- Establish fatigue risk management programs and continually
monitor their success to reduce risks for personnel performing safety-
critical tasks. Fatigue risk management programs take a comprehensive,
tailored approach to address the problem of fatigue within
an industry or workplace. Such programs include policies or practices
to address scheduling, attendance, education, medical screening
and treatment, personal responsibility during nonwork periods, task/
workload issues, rest environments, commuting, and napping.
States and Territories in which State and Local Pilots Operate
- Require local pilot oversight organizations that have not already
done so to implement fatigue mitigation and prevention programs
that regularly inform mariners of the hazards of fatigue and effective
strategies to prevent it, and promulgate hours-of-service rules that
prevent fatigue resulting from extended hours of service, insufficient
rest within a 24 hour period, and disruption of circadian rhythms.
Regulators
- Collect and analyze data regarding fatigue’s impact on vessel
operations and help vessel operators identify high-risk mariners.
- Require mariners to report to the Coast Guard, in a timely manner,
any substantive changes in their medical status or medication use
that occur between required medical evaluations.
- Encourage vessel operators and mariners to adhere to the IMO’s
Guidelines on Fatigue Mitigation and Management (MSC/Circ. 1014).
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