Impact of shift work on sleep and fatigue in Maritime pilots

Abstract

This study examined how objective measures of sleep change across shift-cycles, and the impact of this on sleep quality and fatigue. Forty maritime pilots were recruited from Australian ports. Sleep wake-behaviour (timing and length), and self-reported sleep quality and fatigue, were assessed to determine any impact of roster status and ‘on-call’ status. On-roster pilots experienced reduced night time sleep duration compared to those off-roster (57 ± 8.8 min), while working on-call also diminished night time sleep duration (126 ± 11.3 min) and quality, compared to workers not on-call. Fatigue scores indicated that participants were not fully recovered prior to commencing rostered night shift, while sleep quality was significantly worse following sleep that occurred after a night shift, compared to after a day shift. These findings potentially support workplace negotiations to change future shift cycles, and to adopt monitoring systems that may mitigate the risk of fatigue-related accidents and chronic health outcomes. Practitioner summary: Long and irregular work hours of maritime pilotage can compromise worker performance and safety. This observational study found that on-roster pilots experience reduced sleep duration compared to those off-roster, while working on-call further diminishes sleep duration and quality. Future workload/fatigue monitoring systems may mitigate fatigue-related accidents and adverse chronic health outcomes.

Abbreviations: ANOVA: analysis of variance; ANCOVA: analysis of covariance; BMI: body mass index; CVD: cardiovascular disease; h: hours; mins: minutes; SE: standard error of the mean; SD: standard deviation; SO: sleep opportunities; TST: total sleep time; WASO: wake after sleep onset

Keywords:

• Maritime
• shift cycle
• sleep disruption
• on-call
• actigraphy

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the participants for their time and efforts in this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from Navitas Professional Institute Pty. Ltd.