Estudio de ambientes interiores marinos

Abstract

The European Maritime Safety Agency report of the survey conducted on European vessels between 2011 and 2014 revealed that 67% of the accidents and incidents that occurred on-board were caused by human errors, of which fatigue was identified as a major cause. According to the A.772 (18) resolution ‘fatigue factors in manning and safety of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), fatigue is defined as a decrease in human performance. Thus, IMO has addressed the issue of fatigue through the Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Guidance for Seafarers (STCW), the International Safety Management Code (ISM) and the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC2006); the latter was developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO). In addition to tackling fatigue through their working hours and rest periods, the seafarers faced uncomfortable working conditions on-board; it is therefore warranted that the environmental conditions of the work place be analysed to identify and eliminate the sources of conditions that induce fatigue, such as extreme temperatures, noise and vibrations. The present thesis analysed the appearance of fatigue in two different, but related context. On one hand, the work conditions on-board were considered, which included the workload (man-hours employed), ratio of numbers of personnel to the number of task, rest periods or breaks, etc. On the other hand, environmental conditions such as temperature and noise in the workplace were also considered. In order to comprehend the conditions on-board a ship as well as the perception of fatigue by workers, we sought the opinions of the seafarers through a questionnaire survey aimed at recognizing the factors contributing to fatigue. The environmental conditions of noise and temperature were assessed using measuring devices across two types of ships. More number of samples needs to be studied in the future for better representation of the results obtained.