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Symes, S, Blanco-Davis, E, Fairclough, S, Yang, Z, Wang, J and Shaw, E (2025) An investigation of the effect of fatigue on ship engine room operators using fNIRS. Ocean Engineering, 327. ISSN 0029-8018
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An investigation of the effect of fatigue on ship engine room operators using fNIRS.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (10MB) | Preview |
Abstract
80 % of accidents in the maritime sector are due to human error. This could be the result of operator fatigue on top of daily tasks. This paper aims to evaluate the effect of fatigue as a Performance Shaping Factor(PSF) on seafarers. An engine room simulator study was conducted, using a TRANSAS 5000 series simulator, to investigate the influence fatigue has on human performance using a fault detection and correction task. 20 participants were recruited for the investigation; all 20 received training with the engine room simulator. The participants undertook a 30-min scenario where they had to detect and correct a fault. During this interaction, half of the participants experienced simulated increased fatigue. The other half were given a standard task. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) was utilised to measure neurophysiological activation from the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC). The use of fNIRS is the cornerstone of this studies novelty as brain-computer interface (BCI) fNIRS studies are rare in the maritime sector, and the use of BCI-fNIRS on engine room operators to assess their performance has never been done to date. The results indicated increased activation of lateral regions of the DLPFC during fault correction, this trend was significantly enhanced due to the addition of fatigue. From the results of this study, a scientific human error model was developed and can be used by the maritime industry to better evaluate and understand human error causation. This approach can provide guidance on implementing effective risk control measures, automation strategies, and training programs. By improving risk assessment, identifying optimal work-rest schedules, developing targeted training programs and identifying tasks suitable for automation we can create a significant impact on maritime safety. By reducing error rates within the engineering sector, it has the potential to generate significant financial savings. This model can also be applied in other areas such as aviation transportation through the engineering sector. This model could also be tailored to assess the majority of high-profile roles where error would have huge consequences within various sectors.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 4012 Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Engineering; 4005 Civil Engineering; 4015 Maritime Engineering; 40 Engineering; 0405 Oceanography; 0905 Civil Engineering; 0911 Maritime Engineering; Civil Engineering; 4005 Civil engineering; 4012 Fluid mechanics and thermal engineering; 4015 Maritime engineering |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) V Naval Science > VM Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering |
| Divisions: | Engineering Psychology (from Sep 2019) |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| SWORD Depositor: | A Symplectic |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Mar 2025 10:36 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Mar 2025 10:45 |
| DOI or ID number: | 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2025.120352 |
| URI: | https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/25987 |
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