Position Statement PS 17

A position statement sets out the position Maritime NZ may take to its activities as a regulator. The purpose of this position statement is to set out how Maritime NZ will approach fatigue when undertaking assessments or responding to incidents. It is not guidance, nor does it set new standards.

Fatigue as a health and safety risk

Port and stevedoring operators must ensure the health and safety of workers as far as reasonably practicably under Section 36 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). Fatigue is identified as a hazard in HSWA and was identified as a key driver of serious harm and injuries in the Port Sector Insights Picture and Action Plan. Fatigue in the port and stevedoring sector can be attributed to factors such as:

unpredictable work allocation or working patterns dictated by ever-changing shipping schedules
employees also working other jobs
broken shifts
long workdays
working nights.

Maritime NZ’s position on fatigue risk management in the port and stevedoring sectors

The Fatigue Risk Management System Good Practice Guidelines (FRMS guidelines) are primarily for PCBUs who develop, implement, oversee and maintain a Fatigue Risk Management System at a port.

Fatigue Risk Management

Fatigue must be adequately managed by port and stevedoring operators in accordance with their duties under HSWA. The FRMS guidelines set out how PCBUs should manage fatigue risk at ports. This includes all operational and non-operational roles on both landside and marine departments of a PCBU. They are also referenced in the Approved Code of Practice for Loading and Unloading Cargo at Ports and on Ships (ACOP). A PCBU can achieve compliance with HSWA by following these guidelines, or by another method, if it provides a standard of health and safety that is equivalent to, or higher, than the base level set out in the guidelines.

The FRMS guidelines were developed in 2022, involving a tripartite process with Massey University sleep and fatigue experts, companies in the port and stevedoring sector, unions (Maritime Union of New Zealand and Rail and Maritime Transport Union) and the regulators (Maritime NZ and WorkSafe NZ).

How Maritime NZ will use the FRMS guidelines

We will consider fatigue risk management systems within a company:

• as part of proactive HSWA inspection campaigns
• where issues are seen when carrying out inspections on ports
• when a fatigue concern is raised by a worker or worker’s representative
• when responding to events where fatigue is identified as a potential contributing factor.

The FRMS guidelines were developed with the sector, and are referenced within the ACOP. We consider that these provide a base level standard of health and safety to test whether reasonably practicable steps have been taken to manage fatigue. A PCBU can also meet their duties in a manner different to the guidelines, if it provides a level of health and safety that is equivalent to or higher than the base level set out in the guidelines and the ACOP.

How Maritime NZ will consider shift work as a key fatigue risk factor when assessing fatigue controls and systems

We will always consider fatigue a risk for workers if shift work is present, and people are undertaking safety critical or high-consequence tasks or roles.

A safety critical or high consequence task or role means the likelihood of fatigue is high and the consequences of a fatigue-related error are serious. This includes safety-critical work, night or early-morning operations, long or irregular hours, high workload tasks, and work in challenging environments.

We will place additional scrutiny on high fatigue risk shifts when assessing fatigue risk management systems to ensure fatigue is being managed appropriately.

Our assessments or inspections will include assessing if an operator’s systems include management of the cumulative impact of fatigue and the operator is managing the risk of fatigue as a system. If a PCBU does not believe fatigue is a hazard or risk, we will likely seek evidence of the risk assessment through which this determination was made.

Key terms

Fatigue	means a physiological state where someone is unable to function at their best and that can reduce health and safety at work. The four main causes are: missing out on sleep; being awake for too long; working and sleeping in the wrong parts of the circadian body clock cycle; and physical or mental workload.
Fatigue risk management system	means the management of fatigue as a system including: a risk assessment identifying: situations or conditions where fatigue may be a hazard across departments and roles levels of fatigue and consequences for roles or tasks fatigue risk control strategies and measures rostering patterns that do not introduce excessive levels of fatigue with no control or mitigation measures appropriate break times and facilities appropriate stand downs between shifts (including when shifts occur at night) monitoring and review of controls and measures to make sure they are effective engagement and training in fatigue and controls with workers and managers reporting systems for workers and managers for health and safety issues arising from fatigue regular monitoring and control of emerging fatigue hazards.
Hazard	a hazard includes a person’s behaviour where that behaviour has the potential to cause death, injury, or illness to a person (whether or not that behaviour results from physical or mental fatigue, drugs, alcohol, traumatic shock, or another temporary condition that affects a person’s behaviour).
High fatigue risk shift	high fatigue risk shifts include: five or more consecutive shifts more than one shift in 24 hours less than 10 hours rest between consecutive shifts over 56 hours worked in 7 days shifts longer than 12 hours more than two consecutive night shifts (between 2300 and 0600) more than four consecutive early starts (prior to 0700).
Safety critical or high consequence task or role	means the likelihood of fatigue is high and the consequences of a fatigue-related error are serious. This includes safety-critical work, night or early-morning operations, long or irregular hours, high workload tasks, and work in challenging environments. Examples include: operating heavy machinery (e.g., straddle cranes, forklifts) driving vehicles or vessels (tugs, pilot boats, trucks) piloting or navigating ships performing complex or high-precision tasks tasks requiring rapid decision-making or emergency response roles where workers must drive home after long, night, or extended shifts.
Shift work	means work that falls outside 7:00am to 6:00pm. This can include: permanent, rotating, changeable, non-standard, irregular, on call or unpredictable work hours early starts late finishes night work split shifts.
Port Sector Insights Picture and Action Plan	this is the report developed in 2023 to provide a picture of where, and in what circumstances, serious injuries and fatalities are happening, and why they might be happening.