Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study is to measure the workload of Korea coastal ship crew members, to investigate whether they are following work-break time regulations and to identify the main causes of their workload. Background: According to the US Coast Guard, about 33% of human casualties are reported to be due to fatigue, and 30% of marine casualties reported by the British Marine Accident Investigation Agency (MAIB) are attributed to crew fatigue. But the coastal ship are not managed for business hours and breaks despite the harsh environment. Method: The workload of duty crew members on the 100 domestic coastal vessels was measured. It was also investigated whether they are following domestic and international work-break time regulations. Finally, the marine accidents resulted from the fatigue of the crew was analyzed. Results: As a result of workload analysis, the workload on the 42~62% of the vessels exceeded the standard of working time on the related regulation. The workload increased with the number of inbound and outbound ports. Especially, in the system where there are two seafarers, the workload exceeded the working time requirement. As a result of the marine accidents analysis on 100 vessels, it was found that collision and grounding occurred due to fatigue, workload and drowsiness in 7 marine accidents out of 30 marine accidents. Conclusion: It is necessary for the shipping companies to introduce an operation management manual for the management of the crews' workload and reasonable crew arrangement. It is also required for crew members to easily record work times and for shipping companies to manage the record. It would be possible to prevent many marine accidents by providing adequate rest to the crews and flexibly adjusting their working hours. Application: The results of this study can be used as fundamental data to manage crews' fatigue and to make job management manuals.
