Factors contributing to officers' fatigue in high-speed maritime craft operations

Ada W.S. Leung, Che Hin Chan, Jimmy J.M. Ng, Peter C.C. Wong

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in the level of fatigue induced by high-speed maritime craft operation between the day- and night-shift officers. The demographic and work-related factors that contribute to fatigue were also explored. A total of 93 high-speed maritime craft officers participated in the survey, of whom 35 worked a day shift (Mean age=48.3 years) and 58 worked a night shift (Mean age=45.8 years). Fatigue experience was measured with the Chinese version of the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI-C) at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the work shift. Information on age, work experience, perceived voyage difficulty and duty schedule was obtained. The study found that the night-shift officers seemed to manifest an overall higher level of perceived fatigue than the day-shift officers, while the day-shift officers demonstrated a fatigue carry-over effect across the two workdays. Besides the shift pattern, age, experience in operating high-speed maritime craft and perceived voyage difficulty were the significant factors contributing to the officers' fatigue experience. The finding that the fatigue experience associated with high-speed maritime craft operation has a rapid and accumulative nature suggests that different occupational safety and health guidelines should be devised for these two groups of officers.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)565-576
Number of pages12
JournalApplied Ergonomics
Volume37
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2006

Keywords

  • High-speed craft
  • Perceived fatigue
  • Questionnaire

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human Factors and Ergonomics
  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
  • Engineering (miscellaneous)

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