The impact of fatigue on shipyard welding workers’ occupational health and safety and performance

D. Okumus; S. Fariya; S. Tamer; S. A. Gunbeyaz; G. Yildiz; R. E. Kurt; B. Barlas

doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.115296

The impact of fatigue on shipyard welding workers’ occupational health and safety and performance

D. Okumus^*, S. Fariya, S. Tamer, S. A. Gunbeyaz, G. Yildiz, R. E. Kurt, B. Barlas

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Welding processes are critical for shipbuilding operations in shipyards. Welders’ performance is critical for the quality and speed of the welding; on the other hand, welding requires awkward and repetitive body postures for long durations, which has a negative impact on the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) of the welding workers. This study, therefore, investigates the long-term impact of welding workload on the body for different age groups and experience levels, as well as the long-term impact on chronic fatigue and inter-shift recovery. In order to determine the impact, this study conducted a comprehensive data collection campaign in the shipyard through observation and questionnaires. Results indicate that the eyes, knee, neck and waist are the most discomforted body parts for investigated welding positions. The age of welders was an important parameter of the most affected body part. Moreover, the short-term fatigue impact on welding performance was also investigated to identify the impact on productivity. The Discrete event simulation (Rockwell ARENA) demonstrated that efficiency loss from short-term daily fatigue is around 22,9% compared to the rested condition. The main contribution of this study was investigating fatigue impact on OHS and productivity for selected shipbuilding tasks. The findings of this study can be utilised for shipyard production capacity and resource planning and OHS improvements. The results can also be used further as a coefficient of performance in the production simulation analysis when studying shipyard efficiency. This is a valuable contribution to the literature on shipyard productivity.

Original language	English
Article number	115296
Journal	Ocean Engineering
Volume	285
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.115296
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Funding

This study is conducted by a collaborative project by the University of Strathclyde and Istanbul Technical University. The study was made possible by funding from the Lloyd Register Foundation Small Grants programme, project number Sg4\100029. The authors also thank the RMK Marine Shipyard staff for their research participants. This study is conducted by a collaborative project by the University of Strathclyde and Istanbul Technical University. The study was made possible by funding from the Lloyd Register Foundation Small Grants programme , project number Sg4\100029 . The authors also thank the RMK Marine Shipyard staff for their research participants.

Funders	Funder number
University of Strathclyde
Lloyd's Register Foundation	Sg4\100029
Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi

Keywords

Shipyard
Welding
Welding performance
Worker-fatigue

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10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.115296

Cite this

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abstract = "Welding processes are critical for shipbuilding operations in shipyards. Welders{\textquoteright} performance is critical for the quality and speed of the welding; on the other hand, welding requires awkward and repetitive body postures for long durations, which has a negative impact on the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) of the welding workers. This study, therefore, investigates the long-term impact of welding workload on the body for different age groups and experience levels, as well as the long-term impact on chronic fatigue and inter-shift recovery. In order to determine the impact, this study conducted a comprehensive data collection campaign in the shipyard through observation and questionnaires. Results indicate that the eyes, knee, neck and waist are the most discomforted body parts for investigated welding positions. The age of welders was an important parameter of the most affected body part. Moreover, the short-term fatigue impact on welding performance was also investigated to identify the impact on productivity. The Discrete event simulation (Rockwell ARENA) demonstrated that efficiency loss from short-term daily fatigue is around 22,9% compared to the rested condition. The main contribution of this study was investigating fatigue impact on OHS and productivity for selected shipbuilding tasks. The findings of this study can be utilised for shipyard production capacity and resource planning and OHS improvements. The results can also be used further as a coefficient of performance in the production simulation analysis when studying shipyard efficiency. This is a valuable contribution to the literature on shipyard productivity.",

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The impact of fatigue on shipyard welding workers’ occupational health and safety and performance

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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