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. 2023 Apr 14:11:1160971.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1160971. eCollection 2023.

Fatigue as a key human factor in complex sociotechnical systems: Vessel Traffic Services

Fernando Crestelo Moreno  1   2 , Verónica Soto-López  3 , Deva Menéndez-Teleña  3 , Joaquín Roca-González  2 , Juan Suardíaz Muro  2 , Cristina Roces  4 , Mercedes Paíno  4 , Imma Fernández  4 , Luis Alfonso Díaz-Secades  3
Affiliations

Fatigue as a key human factor in complex sociotechnical systems: Vessel Traffic Services

Fernando Crestelo Moreno et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) are considered a subsystem of people, whose mission is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of maritime transport within the maritime system. VTS operate as a control system where Vessel Traffic Services Operators (VTSOs) must cope with a complex environment to make up for safe and efficient maritime transport, so it is essential to understand how these operators maintain control through adapting to the uncertain and dynamic environment of maritime traffic. This multidisciplinary study explores how human factors within this complex sociotechnical system, means VTS, play a role in maritime safety, specifically focusing on fatigue, which is considered a key variable for VTSOs' performance. In this context, the research has focused on the assessment of fatigue with psychological and operational instruments to highlight the importance of the human element in CSSs.

Objective: To study the intra and inter-individual differences in fatigue ratings and their relationships with other personal and environmental variables: mental workload, work shifts, reaction time, and hours of usual sleep.

Methods: The study was conducted in two of the 19 Spanish Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers (MRCCs) with a sample of 23 active VTSOs (82.14% of the staff). Both objective and standardized subjective measures were used to assess fatigue and associated sleepiness (Borg RPE, Nasa-TLX, Stanford Sleepiness Scale, and Self-Assessment Manikin Scale).

Results: A significant positive correlation between fatigue and mental workload was found, being more prevalent in the night shift, which shows a bigger variation in these variables. A significant difference was found in the increase in fatigue experienced throughout the shift depending on the hours of usual sleep, being smaller in the group of subjects reporting to sleep more.

Conclusion: The human element is key to maritime safety related to Vessel Traffic Services, so it is of paramount importance to consider certain measures to counteract the negative effects of fatigue. A proper organization of duties on/off periods, assessment of work and rest schedules, and the implementation of fatigue management programs based on sleep education are recommended.

Keywords: complex socio technical systems; fatigue; maritime psychology; maritime system safety; vessel traffic service.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Maritime System Is a CSS [adapted from Rothblum (7)].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overlay visualization of co-occurrence analysis from 2014 to 2022 (Source VosViewer).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Flowchart for study recruitment.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Task Attention Control (TAC) frontend (from left to right: 1 – Initial status; 2 – Running 15 min counter; 3 – Running acoustic alarm; 4 – Stopped and data export).
Graph 1
Graph 1
Task attention control sample graph.
Graph 2
Graph 2
Changes in fatigue (left) and mental load (right) according to the shift.
Graph 3
Graph 3
Reaction time Vs SSS – NASA TLX- BORG- SAM (Subject 2 – Cartagena CCS- Night Watch).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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