An Analysis of How Physical and Social
Factors Influence the Efficiency of Crew
Members of a Ship Running
on the Danube
Laurentiu Picu, Eugen Rusu, and Mihaela Picu
Abstract This paper analyzes how physical factors (vibrations, noise and meteorological parameters), social factors (work and living in enclosed spaces, resting area,
sleep time, staff cut downs) and factors related to each individual (physical characteristics, age, experience, alcohol consumption, smoking, stress resistance) induce
fatigue and degradation of mental effort, leading to a general decrease in human
performance. The paper is divided into two parts: (a) measuring physical parameters
and (b) assessment of performance decline. In order to achieve this objective, it was
analyzed the reaction of a ship’s 6 people crew members under different stressors.
The ship traveled on the Tulcea—Calarasi route, in January 2017. The vibrations
transmitted to the subjects in the control room exceeded, on average, by 28.95%
for exposure action value EAV, to 180.32% for exposure limit value ELV, indicated
in ISO 2631:2018 and Directive 2002/44/EC. Also, the noise levels were 41.25%
(lower exposure) higher than what is indicated in Directive 2003/10/EC. To determine the effectiveness of crew members exposed to vibration and noise, they were
asked to resolve the Purdue Pegboard test. There was a decrease in performance
while increasing fatigue. Under heavy winter conditions, work on a ship running on
the Danube is very harsh. In addition to physical measurable values, fatigue occurs
which leads to a decrease in seafarer efficiency.
L. Picu (B) · E. Rusu · M. Picu
Dunarea de Jos, Galati University, Galati, Romania
e-mail: constantin.picu@ugal.ro
E. Rusu
e-mail: eugen.rusu@ugal.ro
M. Picu
e-mail: Mihaela.Picu@ugal.ro
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
N. Herisanu and V. Marinca (eds.), Acoustics and Vibration of Mechanical
Structures—AVMS 2019, Springer Proceedings in Physics 251,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54136-1_18
185
Factors Influence the Efficiency of Crew
Members of a Ship Running
on the Danube
Laurentiu Picu, Eugen Rusu, and Mihaela Picu
Abstract This paper analyzes how physical factors (vibrations, noise and meteorological parameters), social factors (work and living in enclosed spaces, resting area,
sleep time, staff cut downs) and factors related to each individual (physical characteristics, age, experience, alcohol consumption, smoking, stress resistance) induce
fatigue and degradation of mental effort, leading to a general decrease in human
performance. The paper is divided into two parts: (a) measuring physical parameters
and (b) assessment of performance decline. In order to achieve this objective, it was
analyzed the reaction of a ship’s 6 people crew members under different stressors.
The ship traveled on the Tulcea—Calarasi route, in January 2017. The vibrations
transmitted to the subjects in the control room exceeded, on average, by 28.95%
for exposure action value EAV, to 180.32% for exposure limit value ELV, indicated
in ISO 2631:2018 and Directive 2002/44/EC. Also, the noise levels were 41.25%
(lower exposure) higher than what is indicated in Directive 2003/10/EC. To determine the effectiveness of crew members exposed to vibration and noise, they were
asked to resolve the Purdue Pegboard test. There was a decrease in performance
while increasing fatigue. Under heavy winter conditions, work on a ship running on
the Danube is very harsh. In addition to physical measurable values, fatigue occurs
which leads to a decrease in seafarer efficiency.
L. Picu (B) · E. Rusu · M. Picu
Dunarea de Jos, Galati University, Galati, Romania
e-mail: constantin.picu@ugal.ro
E. Rusu
e-mail: eugen.rusu@ugal.ro
M. Picu
e-mail: Mihaela.Picu@ugal.ro
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
N. Herisanu and V. Marinca (eds.), Acoustics and Vibration of Mechanical
Structures—AVMS 2019, Springer Proceedings in Physics 251,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54136-1_18
185