QUANTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF SMALL CRAFT HIGH SPEED TRANSITS ON PERSONNEL

摘要

This paper describes two studies that were undertaken to quantify the potential effects on personnel involved in transits on small high speed craft (HSC) of the type used by commercial operators, water rescue organisations and the military. The methodology involved the measurement of accelerations on the craft and at the back lumbar region of the HSC operators and obtaining specific human factors during a training exercise. High speed transits place great physical demands on personnel due to wave impacts and continuous whole-body vibrations resulting in physical discomfort, short and long term injuries, poor sleep quality, high levels of fatigue and operational and personal safety. The studies identified the significant parameters that contribute to the degraded performance of personnel such as workload, sleep quality, and fatigue, a provided a means of quantifying the ride characteristics of two different HSC in terms of personnel discomfort levels and the potential for short and long term injuries.