Presentation
Assessing the relative merits of rotating and fixed shipboard watchbills
DescriptionLand-based shift-work research shows that humans have minimal adaptation to permanent night work. Hence, rotating shift schedules, which distribute night shifts evenly over the workforce, are recommended (e.g., Health and Safety Executive, 2006). In publications on maritime watch schedules, however, it is often argued that while underway on ships, it is less difficult to adapt to permanent night work than to changing work and rest times daily. Hence, fixed watch schedule designs are currently recommended (e.g., Shattuck & Matsangas, 2016). To provide empirical evidence on the (dis-)advantages of rotating shift in military seafaring, we conducted a longitudinal study that – to the best of our knowledge – is the first to compare the effects of a fixed and a rotating watch schedule on sleep, sleepiness, performance, and stress (as indicated by cortisol levels) within the same sample of sailors.
Event Type
Lecture
TimeFriday, October 23rd11:20am - 11:40am PDT
Location