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• Great Barrier Reef pilotage fatigue risk assessment
• Fatigue study on coastal pilots
• The work practices of marine pilots
• Work schedules of Great Barrier Reef Pilots
• Impact on wives and families
• Work and Sleep patterns
• Implications for fatigue management
• Information for Interest
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On tour analyses of the work and rest patterns of Great Barrier Reef pilots: implications for fatigue management

RESULTS

4.0 General Characteristics

4.1 The Sample

The average age of the pilots was 53.2 (+ 1.64) years. Examination of the age categories indicated 70 percent were aged between 41 and 60 years, three pilots were in the 31-40 age category, and seven were aged between 61 and 70 years. On average, pilots had served 36 years in the general maritime industry with 9.5 years of service in Great Barrier Reef pilotage. Years of service as a Great Barrier Reef pilot ranged from 11 months to 27 years, with 50 percent serving more than 7 years and a similar percentage serving for less than that time (Parker et al., Report No 4, 1998).

4.2 Response Details

Twenty-three pilots or 40 percent of the total pilot group provided logbook data on 176 work assignments undertaken on the three main shipping routes in the Great Barrier Reef-Torres Strait region during May-June, 1998. By comparison, 60 percent of the same pilots responded to questionnaires during an earlier phase of the project (Parker et al., Report No. 4, 1998). The response rate for the logbook analysis was lowerthan anticipated and may reflect the reticence of some pilots to maintain and complete the logbooks over this period, which is not unusual in occupational settings.

Analysis of the logbooks was based on the number of assignments, and bridge and sleep periods (Table 4.0). The number of assignments and bridge periods was adjusted for any missing values and sleep data ashore was based on 165 assignments after counting only those breaks of 3 days or less. The number of sleep periods at sea was based on 146 assignments.

Table 4.0 Logbook measures: Number of work assignments, bridge and sleep periods, by shipping route.

Key Measures	Inner Route	Hydrographers Passage	GNE Channel	Other	All
No. of work assignments	120	34	18	3	176
No. of bridge periods	997	39	24	12	1074
No. of sleep periods at sea	796	22	6	9	833
No. of sleep periods ashore	336	62	43	11	452

4.3 Limitations

Logbook data should be interpreted with caution for the following reasons:

• The relatively small group of respondents may not be representative of the total pilot population;
• The lack of precision of data recorded on the GNE Channel due to the relatively small number of work assignments in this region during the period of data collection; and
• The possibility that respondents overestimated their level of alertness and quality of sleep;

While these limitations to the interpretability of the logbook data may lead to an over- or underestimate of the associations between work and sleep and fatigue, stress, and alertness, they are unlikely to distort the overall study findings to any degree.

5.0 Overview of Work Assignments

The following section shows the general characteristics of work assignments for each of the shipping routes. The results focus on the characteristics of work assignments which have the potential to increase fatigue levels such as travel to and from ships, the duration of assignments and pilotage duties, and starting times of work assignments and breaks. Findings relating to the level of overall stress and fatigue, and factors contributing to this during work assignments are also presented. Work assignment time includes travel to and from the ship and provides a broad description of ship time.

5.1 Travel Duration to and from Ships per Assignment

An assessment of the duration of travel to and from ships per assignment was undertaken to determine the time spent on work-related travel and whether the time spent travelling was different across the shipping routes. Travel times to and from ships for the Inner Route, Hydrographers Passage and the GNE Channel were 2.36 hours, 2.2 hours and 3.69 hours, respectively. Significantly longer time was incurred travelling to and from ships on the GNE Channel, with the duration similar on other routes (Table 5.0). The travel times were consistent with the results from the retrospective analyses of work schedule data (Parker et al., Report No 2, 1998).

5.2 Total Duration of Work Assignments

Previous analysis of the work schedule information had revealed that travel significantly (p < 0.001) increased the duration of work assignments so the present assignment duration was adjusted for travel to and from ships. Following this adjustment, findings from the logbook analyses confirmed the earlier data (Parker et al., Report No 2, 1998) and showed that Inner Inner Route assignments were significantly longer (55 hours) than pilotages on Hydrographers Passage (16 hours) and the GNE Channel (14 hours), (Table 5.0).

5.3 Percent or Work Assignments on Pilotage Duties

Further analysis of logbook data provided some insight into the proportion of work assignment time (i.e. time on the ship) spent on pilotage duties. As Figure 5.0 illustrates the percent of the work assignment spent on pilotage duties ranged from 67 percent for Hydrographers Passage to 94 and 95 percent for the Inner Route and the GNE Channel, respectively. Assignments on Hydrographers Passage involved a significantly lower percent of time on pilotage duties compared with the Inner Route or the GNE Channel, which were similar (Table 5.0)

Likewise, in terms of the actual hours spent on pilotage duties during assignments, Inner Route assignments involved significantly more hours (50) than either Hydrographers Passage (8.3) or GNE Channel (9) pilotages (Table 5.0), which were similar.

Figure 5.0 Mean percent of work assignment time spent on pilotage duties, by shipping route.

Table 5.0 Analysis of work assignment characteristics, by shipping route (1)

Effect	Post hoc results (2)	Mean (sem)	F Statistics	p-value
Travel duration (hours) to and from ships per assignment Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	1 1 2	2.36 (0.15) 2.20 (0.19) 3.69 (0.50)	13.15	< 0.001
Total duration (hours) of work assignments per shipping route$ Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	1 2 2	54.59 (2.73) 16.28 (0.91) 14.41 (2.14)	54.99	< 0.001
Total duration (hours) of pilotage time per shipping route Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	1 2 2	49.39 (2.28) 8.30 (0.25) 9.05 (0.79)	72.27	< 0.001
Percent of work assignment on pilotage duties Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	1 2 1	94.87 (0.82) 66.28 (3.93) 95.24 (4.52)	19.87	< 0.001
Duration (hours) of breaks between assignments Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	n/a n/a n/a	72.52 (11.23) 35.99 (13.26) 59.34 (11.53	3.08	=0.051

1. Results of full two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) model. p < 0.01 considered statistically significant.
2. Results of Tukey’s Studentised Range test for post-hoc differences (Type 1 Error Rate = .01) p < 0.01 for differences between shipping routes from post-hoc; n/a = Post hoc testing not performed when main effects not significant. $ Includes travel to and from ship

5.4 Duration of Breaks between Assignments

Breaks between assignments present an opportunity for pilots to recover from the previous pilotage and prepare for the next. Hence, an examination of the breaks was relevant to the fatigue focus of the study. Average break duration prior to assignments ranged from 36 hours for Hydrographers Passage to 59 and 72 hours for the GNE Channel and Inner Route, respectively (Table 5.0). The absence of a shipping route effect for assignment break duration possibly reflects the large standard error associated with the mean scores for each of the shipping routes.

The variability in assignment breaks shown in Table 5.0 is explored in the presentation of the duration of breaks as a frequency distribution (Figure 5.1). The figure shows that across all three shipping routes 15-25 percent of breaks before assignments were 48 hours or more, with between 5 and 10 percent of breaks between 24 and 36 hours. A small percentage of breaks prior to work on the Inner Route and Hydrographers Passage did not comply with break duration guidelines for these routes. That some breaks ashore based on both logbook and work schedule results (Parker et al., Report No 2, 1998) were shorter than prescribed guidelines, suggests some personnel had a far shorter time to recuperate between assignments and were at increased risk to develop cumulative fatigue during a tour of duty.

Figure 5.1 Frequency distribution - duration of breaks between assignments, by shipping route.

5.5 Starting Times of Work Assignments of Work Assignments and Break between Assignments

Several studies (Berger, 1984; Shipley, 1978; Shipley & Cook, 1980) support our earlier finding which show the irregularity of the work of GBR pilots. Pilots’ hours are dependent on various factors over which they have little control including the weather conditions, tidal patterns and shipping movements in and around the Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Regions. Starting and finishing times may be at any time of the day or night and consequently pilots will often work or sleep at times inconsistent with their normal circadian rhythms. The incompatibility between the person's circadian functions and their work rest schedules causes tensions, fatigue and sleep problems (Barton et al.,1993; Harma,1993). For these reasons it was considered important to examine the irregularity of work and rest periods more closely and the timing of work and rest periods. Frequency distributions of the starting times of work assignments and breaks are shown in Figure 5.2 and Figure 5.3, respectively. As Figure 5.2 indicates between 20 and 25 percent of work assignments began across most 4-hour periods within the 24 hour cycle, with approximately 5 percent of assignments starting between 2100 and 0100 hours on the three routes.

Break starting times depicted a more rectangular distribution across the 24 hour cycle (Figure 5.3); (that is, a similar percent of breaks started during all 4-hour periods of the day). Thus the logbook data again confirmed the irregularity of pilotage work and the disruption to the normal circadian cycles for work and sleep. These findings indicate a considerable percentage of sleep periods during breaks were taken at times inconsistent with maintenance of normal sleep patterns and this issue will be explored in a subsequent section relating to sleep ashore.

Figure 5.2 Frequency distribution - starting times of work assignments, by shipping route.

Figure 5.3 Frequency distribution - starting times of breaks between assignments, by shipping route.

5.6 An indication of Work and Rest at Sea and Time onboard and ashore

The percentage of time spent on board spent on pilotage duties working and resting during assignments also has the potential to impact on fatigue and accordingly was calculated from logbook entries. As pilots are on call at all times while on pilotage duties the proportion of a work assignment time spent on pilotage duties was considered as work. As shown in Table 5.0 the percent of work assignments spent on pilotage duties ranged from 66 percent on Hydrographers Passage to 95 percent for the other two routes.

Thus, the ratio of pilotage to non pilotage time while on board revealed some notable differences. For Hydrographers Passage the ratio was 2:1, whereas on the other routes the figure was 19:1 indicating a greater involvement in pilotage duties during higher intensity of work during assignments on these two routes. The pilotage to non pilotage ratio for Hydrographers Passage is also consistent with previous work assignment measures which have shown fewer demands associated with pilotage work in this region.

An earlier finding arising from the earlier analysis of the work assignment and break time showed that 43 percent of tour time was spent onboard with 57 percent spent ashore. This finding was consistent with that arising from the earlier work schedule analysis (Parker et al., Report No 2, 1998) and showed that a slightly higher proportion of tour time was spent ashore than onboard. Thus over a tour, pilots spend approximately equal amounts of time onboard and ashore.

5.7 End of Work Assignment Ratings

The findings in the preceding sections presented statistical evidence of a shipping route effect on several features of work assignments. Results from earlier phases of the present project, particularly the questionnaire responses and pilot commentaries (Parker et al., Report No 4, 1998), also showed that the stress and fatigue experienced by pilots varied greatly between assignments. It was considered important therefore to examine the pilots perception of stress and fatigue for a particular work assignment.

Respondents were required to rate both their overall stress and fatigue on visual analogue scales. Scoring for the scale ranged from a rating of ‘very low’ (scale = 0) to ‘very high’ (scale = 100).

5.7.1 Stress

Work assignment stress was rated as low, and scores ranged between 18 and 27, with no significant shipping route effect (Table 5.1). The absence of a difference between shipping routes is likely related to the large standard errors associated with the mean scores for Hydrographers Passage and the GNE Channel. The considerable variation in stress levels during assignments identified in the comments of individual pilots is reflected in the large standard errors reported here.

5.7.2 Fatigue

Fatigue ratings resulting from work assignments were also fairly low and ranged from 14 on Hydrographers Passage to 29 for the Inner Route and GNE Channel (Table 5.1). Post hoc analysis revealed assignments on the Inner Route and GNE Channel were significantly more fatiguing than those on Hydrographers Passage. The higher rating of fatigue for Inner Route work is not surprising given the considerably longer assignment duration on this route, the fragmented sleep and the navigational difficulties in some sections.

Given that Hydrographers Passage and the GNE Channel are of similar duration (14-16 hours); the higher fatigue rating for Great North East assignments may be related to the navigational demands in the region, the greater amount of travel incurred to/from assignments in this area (Section 5.1) and the greater presence of medium sea conditions during the sampling period between May and June (Section 6.5).

Table 5.1 Analysis of work assignment ratings of stress and fatigue, by shipping route (1)

Effect	Post hoc results 2	Mean (sem)	F Statistics	p-value
Overall Stress Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	n/a n/a n/a	22.05 (1.48) 18.96 (3.65) 27.37 (5.17)	0.02	=0.983
Overall Fatigue Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	1 2 1	28.69 (1.84) 14.20 (2.17) 28.98 (5.57)	7.98	< 0.001

1. Results of full two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) model. p < 0.01 considered statistically significant.
2. Results of Tukey’s Studentised Range test for post-hoc differences (Type 1 Error Rate = .01) ;p < 0.01 for differences between shipping routes from post-hoc; n/a = Post hoc testing not performed when main effects not significant

5.8 Factors contributing to overall stress and/or Fatigue During a Work Assignment

Findings from an earlier survey of the health and stress of Australian seafarers (Parker et al., 1997), which included GBR pilots revealed that a large number of industry specific and personal factors contributed to overall stress and/or fatigue levels during work assignments. In this study these factors were examined in greater depth and respondents were asked to rate on a visual analogue scale, the degree to which a range of pilotage specific factors contributed to overall stress and/or fatigue during a work assignment. Scoring for the scale ranged from a rating of ‘not at all’ (scale = 0) to ‘very much’ (scale = 100). Higher scores indicated a greater contribution to assignment stress and/or fatigue.

On the basis of factor analysis three sub-scales were identified. These were: ship and environment; onboard factors; and travel factors.

5.8.1 Ship and Environmental Factors

Ship factors consisted of six items. These were: ship length; ship speed and draft; cargo type; equipment availability; and handling capability. Environmental factors consisted of four items, namely, weather, visibility, shipping and recreational traffic. Cronbrach’s reliability coefficient for this scale was 0.90.

The degree of contribution from ship and environment factors was quite low with scores ranging from 10-17. As Table 5.2 shows there was a marginal shipping route effect route effect with ship and environment factors contributing to a greater degree during pilotages on the Inner Route and the GNE Channel than on Hydrographers Passage. Pilot commentaries indicated that in some of the difficult sections of the Inner Route and GNE Channel under keel clearance and handling capabilities of the ship were added problems. Comments also revealed that equipment varied greatly from ship to ship and ranged from ‘state of the art’ to ‘very basic’.

That environmental factors contributed to a greater degree on Inner Route and GNE Channel assignments was not unexpected. These two shipping routes are located in the northern most area of the Barrier Reef pilotage region and are more exposed to changes in weather patterns. The finding that shipping traffic also added more to stress on these routes is expected given the location of the Inner Route in proximity to coastal ports. Individual comments from pilots raised concern over the safety aspects of fishing and sailing vessels being in shipping channels on the Inner Route, especially when these vessels are without proper navigational lights or lookouts.

Table 5.2 Analysis of the degree to which ship and environment factors contributed to assignment stress and/or fatigue, by shipping route (1)

Effect	Post hoc results (2)	Mean (sem)	F Statistics	p-value
Ship and environment factors Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	1 2 1	15.55 (1.14) 9.47 (1.60) 17.46 (2.65)	3.71	=0.027

1. Results of full two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) model. p < 0.01 considered statistically significant.
2. Results of Tukey’s Studentised Range test for post-hoc differences (Type 1 Error Rate = .01) p < 0.01 for differences between shipping routes from post-hoc

5.8.2 Onboard factors

Factors related to the onboard scale consisted of four items. These were the bridge team, language difficulties, meals and accommodation. Cronbach’s reliability coefficient for this scale was 0.87.

An analysis of the shipping route effect in the degree to which the competency of bridge teams and language difficulties, contributed to overall assignment stress and/or fatigue is shown in Table 5.3. Across the three shipping routes, the contribution from these items was relatively low with scores ranging from 13 to 18). That onboard factors relating to bridge teams, meals and accommodation impacted slightly more on the Inner Route is consistent with the longer assignment duration in this region and the possibility of an exposure to these factors for up to 55 hours or more.

Comments from pilots indicated that well trained bridge teams greatly reduced stress during assignments, whereas poorly trained watch officers reduced the opportunities to sleep for even short periods. Bridge team competency levels were a source of concern to a considerable number of pilots. Pilots reported that in some cases, bridge team members were unable to perform basic lookout duties, helmsman were unable to steer correctly, and pilots repeatedly had to ask for the vessels position to be plotted.

Pilots considered comfortable accommodation was extremely important for relaxation as well as sleep while at sea. Problems with accommodation were identified including the absence of air conditioning, pilot accommodation doubling as an office/computer room, noise from announcements and sharing accommodation with cockroaches.

Table 5.3 Analysis of the degree to which onboard factors contributed to assignment stress and/or fatigue, by shipping route (1)

Effect	Post hoc results	Mean (sem)	F Statistics	p-value
Onboard factors Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	n/a n/a n/a	18.33 (1.27) 13.00 (1.71) 15.56 (2.16)	2.77	=0.067

1. Results of full two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) model. p < 0.01 considered statistically significant.

n/a = Post hoc testing not performed when main effects not significant

5.8.3 Travel factors

This scale consisted of two items, namely travel to and from the ship. Cronbach’s reliability coefficient for this scale was 0.73.

Scores for travel to and from ships ranged from 26 to 34 and were almost double those estimated from other items. Further analysis showed that travel contributed to a similar degree to assignment stress and/or fatigue across the three shipping routes (Table 5.4). Thus, of all the factors assessed, travel was the most significant contributor to overall assignment stress and/or fatigue. Given that travel transfers are often 2-3 hours and 50 percent of this travel is during night time periods the greater impact from travel was not surprising.

That the scores for travel during GNE Channel and Hydrographers Passage transfers were marginally higher may reflect the longer duration of travel times incurred when operating in GNE region and the helicopter transfers on Hydrographers Passage. Some pilots identified situations in which they considered their stress levels were markedly increased such as, repeated attempts by their transfer plane to land during bad weather and during helicopter landings on small ships fitted with cranes. Moreover, 2-3 hour launch transfer times were often doubled due to delays.

Table 5.4 Analysis of the degree to which travel factors contributed to assignment stress and/or fatigue, by shipping route (1)

Effect	Post hoc results	Mean (sem)	F Statistics	p-value
Travel to and from ship Inner Route Hydrographers Passage GNE Channel	n/a n/a n/a	26.16 (1.82) 31.11 (3.61) 34.92 (5.69)	1.14	=0.325

1. Results of full two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) model. p < 0.01 considered statistically significant.

n/a = Post hoc testing not performed when main effects not significant

5.8.4 Other factors

Logbook commentaries from pilots drew attention to several additional sources of stress associated with work assignments. Pilots considered that while delays were very much part of shipping, in many instances the stress associated with delays was exacerbated when very late notice was given to pilots and launch crews of changed arrival/departure times. Pilots regarded the improper notice of changed arrival and departure times reflected poorly on the level of professionalism associated with the managerial side of the pilotage service.

Commentaries in the logbooks again drew attention to the issue of competition and its negative impact on many aspects of pilotage work, particularly income and safety.

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