Guidelines on Fatigue - 2019 Edition
This publication is a guide to the nature of fatigue and its causes. It outlines preventative measures and countermeasures designed to help combat fatigue on board ship.
Approved by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the guidelines in this publication include modules addressing the issue of fatigue from different angles: the company, the seafarer, awareness and training, ship design, and the Administration and port State authorities.
It includes examples of sleep and fatigue monitoring tools and of fatigue event report information.
As a specialised agency of the United Nations, IMO is the global standard-setting authority for the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping. Its main role is to create a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective, universally adopted and universally implemented.
In other words, its role is to create a level playing-field so that ship operators cannot address their financial issues by simply cutting corners and compromising on safety, security and environmental performance. This approach also encourages innovation and efficiency.
Shipping is a truly international industry, and it can only operate effectively if the regulations and standards are themselves agreed, adopted and implemented on an international basis - and IMO is the forum at which this process takes place.