Fatigue is a relatively common, but lesser-understood, safety hazard, particularly on a fishing vessel.
A survey of more than 1000 crew working across a wide range of commercial vessels in Australia found a concerning knowledge gap when it came to identifying and managing fatigue.
Of the 1000 survey participants:
- One in three began work on a vessel already in a fatigued state,
- 40 per cent had less than six hours of sleep in any given 24-hour period,
- Survey participants struggled to identify lesser-known behavioural signs of fatigue like slurred speech and risk taking,
- 50 per cent had not received any fatigue management training or guidance.
The findings led to recent changes to AMSA regulations, placing far greater emphasis on vessels having a management plan for the fatigue of their crew. These changes have been set out in Marine Order 505.
To assist with understanding the requirements for managing fatigue, AMSA recently held a 30-minute webinar, which can now be viewed online here.
Educating yourself, your master and crew on the impacts of fatigue, identifying fatigue and how you will manage fatigue on your vessel is of paramount importance.
Your fatigue management strategy must also be included in your vessel’s safety management system. It is recommended that the master and all crew are involved in developing the fatigue management system to ensure all aspects are considered and understood. Once developed, the plan should be trialed and then reviewed by the master and crew.
Particular attention needs to be paid to working at night.
You can find some lessons learned from fatigue incidents at:
You’ll find more information, guides and other resources here.