Press area
Latest fatigue report underlines overwork problem
16 January 2007
A new report from Cardiff University’s Centre for Occupational and Health Psychology has added to the worrying portrait of a maritime industry where fatigue is endangering crews, vessels and the environment. Released today to make it available for study before the IMO’s STW* meeting in London (where it will be presented on 23 January), the ITF commissioned report – Adequate Manning and Seafarers’ Fatigue: the International Perspective – reveals how far behind the industry is in tackling the problem.
The new report broadens the perspective of recent research by examining international findings and how other industries approach the problem. Among its main findings are that there is overwhelming evidence of the existence of maritime fatigue; yet the industry has been reluctant to invest resources into monitoring or preventing it. It notes that in civil aviation, for example, flight time is regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Agreement, with a limit of between 70 and 100 hours of flight time allowed over a period of a month (times vary according to different countries’ rules), compared with the 98 working hours a week permitted by maritime regulation.
In spite of the long periods spent away from home and the clear risks to the long term health of seafarers and the evident association between fatigue and accidents at sea, scant progress has been made to regulate and enforce hours of work in the industry. The report also highlights the worrying phenomenon of false record keeping, where seafarers are bowing to pressures that undermine onboard safety and health.
The report calls for a holistic approach to maritime fatigue, encouraging the development of an onboard safety culture underpinned by realistic levels of manning, and a more robust approach to regulation.
Adequate Manning and Seafarers’ Fatigue: the International Perspective is available from the ITF website or on request from dawson_sam@itf.org.uk in PDF form (74 pages). A brief summary – Seafarer Fatigue Where Next? – has been prepared by the ITF and, along with the main report, can be seen by clicking on Related Documents at www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/1133 or in leaflet form (contact Sam Dawson if you want this posted to you).
Commenting on the research John Bainbridge, Assistant Secretary of the ITF’s Seafarers’ Section, said: “This report confirms what we already know. Seafarers are routinely working excessively long hours, endangering themselves and the marine environment. It’s time to stop putting seafarers at risk and to learn from the examples of best practice in other industries.”
*Standards of Training and Watchkeeping sub-committee annual meeting, which begins on 22 January.
ENDS
For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk
International Transport Workers' Federation - ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 - 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org
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