The performance of the crew is vital in ensuring operational success requiring crew members to perform optimally in both the physical and cognitive domains.
Physical: To cope with the harsh environment, crew members need to be physically robust to handle the g-forces they are exposed to. This requires them to have an increased physical workload to manage the repeated shock and vibration.
Cognitive: It is a rare occurrence for professional HSC operators to work in both sunshine and calm seas. It is more common for them to have to deal with poor visibility and rough sea conditions. It is therefore essential that the coxswain and crew maintain their Situational Awareness (SA). This requires that the crew have the appropriate training and that the ergonomic design of their HSC is optimised to the required tasks.
The embarked passengers are often considered to have a ‘passive’ role during the transit. Although they may not be actively involved in the operation of the craft, they are very active in coping with the motion of the HSC. This becomes important because the motion of the HSC can result in them becoming fatigued and therefore compromises their post-transit physical performance. This is not a good situation for the emergency and security services whose role starts when the in-bound transit ends.
Reduce exposure to repeated shock and vibration: This can be achieved operationally and through the design of the HSC and its systems.
Be more robust: The stronger and fitter an individual is the more likely they are to cope with the transit. Sports performance is based on both general fitness and ‘sport-specific’ fitness – occupational fitness is not different. Therefore both HSC crew and passengers need to be both generally fit, and have an appropriate level of HSC-specific fitness – this is designed to both maintain and enhance performance as well as providing a degree of injury-proofing.
Example of STR assessment of ship boarding performance.
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