Fatigue in road, rail and

maritime transport

Professor Andy Smith

Centre for Occupational and

Health
Psychology

Cardiff University
 Three surveys of fatigue in
shipping, rail and driving
Fatigue is a major health and safety
issue.
It is a risk factor for chronic disease
and mortality.
It is a risk factor for transport
accidents and accidents at work.
It is essential to increase fatigue
awareness and provide guidance yo
prevent and manage fatigue.
Fatigue in Ferry Crew

Cross-channel marine and

customer services N=491
Irish Sea N=50
2001 (mainly Irish Sea) N=667
Main findings
Hours of work: Periods of duty and rest were
within mandatory requirements and guidelines.
Additional duties took up an extra hour on top
of normal working hours.
Nearly half of the respondents felt that their
working hours presented a danger either to
them or to the ship. This was higher in the
marine crew but was also observed in both the
Irish Sea data and the 2001 data.
Watch keeping

Approximately half of the watch-

keepers suffered from fatigue on
watch.
Factors causing fatigue

The major factors were:

job demands; working hours; length
of tour of duty; number of crossings;
speed of the port turn-around; bad
weather; noise and vibration; sleep
problems; and extra duties such as
the life-boat drill.
Fatigue during and after
work
All groups reported feeling sleepy
and tired at work (at least 2 or 3
times a week).
Similarly, all groups reported
frequent mental and physical fatigue
at the end of the working day.
Symptoms of Fatigue
Lethargy, poor quality sleep, tension and loss of
concentration were frequent problems for all of the
samples.

Sleep problems and loss of concentration were higher in

the cross channel crews (both marine and customer
services).

All groups reported that the effects of fatigue increased

the longer they were onboard and continued into leave.
Sleep

All samples reported difficulty falling

asleep, staying asleep, and getting
up.
These effects were biggest in the
cross channel crew, followed by the
Irish Sea crew, and then the 2001
sample.
Performance and safety

Both marine and customer service

crew reported more frequent
involvement in fatigue-related
incidents or accidents.
All groups reported that customer
service suffers because of fatigue.
Conclusions
The present survey confirmed that the
crew of the ferries on the cross channel
route are exposed to a number of
factors which induce fatigue. Levels of
reported fatigue and reduced well-being
are high. There is also an association
between fatigue and reduced
operational performance and safety.
Fatigue in Rail Staff
The survey was completed by 1099 rail
staff (77.8% male; mean age 44.3 years)
representing a number of jobs.

Missing data was rare (about 2%).

 Survey - Fatigue

58.6% reported high levels of fatigue at work.

Fatigue was predicted by job type (driver,
conductor, and engineer), a poor lifestyle, lack
of control/support, high job demands, noise
and shift-work.
Fatigue was correlated with reduced
performance and more health problems.
 Diary Studies

Fatigue at work largely due to workload

Fatigue correlated with slower RTs

Workers often fatigued when they start work

fitness for work needed
 Recommendations
Action required at all levels but this needs to be sustainable
and evaluated.
Use other sources of information:

TRAIN DRIVERS FALL ASLEEP!

Research confidential reporting; diary studies; analyses of

incidents; simulator studies.

Training Stress and fatigue training is being developed:

Education; Disclosure; Problem solving; Self-affirmation

Driver fatigue survey
Characteristics of the final sample
N=2856

68% female

Mean age 34 years; range 18-74 years

Driving behaviour:
How often do you have lapses of concentration when driving?
How often do you indicate hostility to other drivers?
How often do you miss warning signs?
How often do you disregard the speed limit on a residential road?
Driver fatigue:
How often do you have to drive when you are tired?
How often do you drive when you have a minor illness like a cold?
How often do you have to drive late at night, in the early morning or the post-lunch
period?
How often do you have to drive for long periods?
How often do you have to drive after prolonged work?
Risk taking:
How frequently do you take risks at work?
How frequently do you take risks outside of work?

Responses to the above questions made on a 5-point scale: 0= Never; 1= Rarely;

2 = Sometimes; 3= Often; 4 = Very Often
Road traffic accidents:

Thinking about the last 12 months, have you been involved in any
traffic accidents when you have been the driver resulting in
injuries that required medical attention from someone else (e.g. a
first aider, GP, nurse or hospital doctor)?

Thinking about the last 12 months, have you been involved in any
traffic accidents when you have been the driver that have not
involved injuries?
 Logistic regressions including covariates, driving behaviour, driver fatigue
and risk-taking with the combined RTA score as the outcome.

OR CIs Significance

Driving Behaviour 1.361.05, 1.76 p<0.05

Driver Fatigue 1.551.18, 2.04 p<0.005
Risk-taking 1.281.01, 1.64 p<0.05
Logistic regression examining the combined effects of
driving behaviour, driver fatigue and risk-taking (split into
quartiles) on the combined RTA score.

OR CI Significance

No risk factors 1
One risk factor 1.19 0.80, 1.77p>0.05
Two risk factors 1.57 1.06, 2.34p<0.05
All three risk factors 2.55 1.70, 3.82p<0.001
SUMMARY
Strengths and limitations of the study
This survey identified poor driving behaviour, driving when
fatigued and risk taking as predictors of road traffic accidents.
It controlled for personal and occupational factors.
It used short measuring instruments that can be used in risk
assessments.
The results have implications for information campaigns and
training.
The survey was cross-sectional which makes it difficult to
assess causality.
 Conclusions
Fatigue is prevalent in all transport
sectors
Fatigue can be induced by a variety
of factors and it is often the
combined effects of these factors
that is important
Fatigue can result in the person
falling asleep
Fatigue can reduce efficiency and
safety
Chronic fatigue influences health