Abstract
BackgroundFatigue is a concern in ferry shipping as it has a negative impact on crew members health and plays a major role in marine incidents and accidents. Research within land-based occupational settings has found that work-family conflict is an important risk factor for fatigue and that support from leaders constitutes a possible resource with the potential to buffer a negative impact from work-family conflict. Though, the working conditions of ferry shipping are likely to interfere with employee’s family life those two factors have received little attention in research on seafarers’ health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the direct associations between work-family conflict as well as leaders’ support with fatigue in employees of the Danish ferry shipping industry. Further, the study aimed at testing whether support could buffer potential detrimental associations between work-family conflict and fatigue.MethodsThe study design was cross-sectional, and 193 respondents answered to a self-administered questionnaire. Fatigue was measured with the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory. Perceived work-family conflict and perceived supervisor support were assessed with two subscales from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. The association of potential risk factors with fatigue was determined using hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses.ResultsAfter controlling for confounding, work-family conflict was found to be positively associated with four of the five subdimensions of fatigue; lack of energy, physical discomfort, lack of motivation and sleepiness, while more support from supervisors was related to less lack of energy, physical exhaustion and lack of motivation. Further, supervisor support was found to moderate the effect from work-family conflict on the physical subdimensions of fatigue.ConclusionAlthough restricted by its cross-sectional design and a limited sample, this study provides support for the independent relevance of work family conflict and support from nearest superior for employee fatigue in ferry shipping. Further, there was evidence for a moderating role of such support on the negative impact of work-family conflict on the physical aspects of fatigue. Shipping companies may consider commencing initiatives which reduce conflicts between family life and work obligations, and that leader support may be a relevant component in such initiatives.
Highlights
Fatigue is a concern in ferry shipping as it has a negative impact on crew members health and plays a major role in marine incidents and accidents
In view of the outlined gaps in evidence about the role of work-family conflict and supervisor support for fatigue in seafaring/ferry shipping, the present study aimed to investigate a) whether there are direct main associations between perceived levels of work-family conflict, support from nearest superior and different dimensions of fatigue; b) whether there is an interaction between the stress factor ‘work-family conflict’ and the social resource ‘supervisor support’ on fatigue dimensions among employees in Danish ferry shipping after controlling for the influence from general job demands as well as sleep quality
Prior to analyses we used the subsample from company 1, which made up most of the study sample, to test whether participants in the study differed from all crew members and terminal workers in the respective company regarding age, gender, workplace and professional group
Summary
Fatigue is a concern in ferry shipping as it has a negative impact on crew members health and plays a major role in marine incidents and accidents. The aim of this study was to investigate the direct associations between work-family conflict as well as leaders’ support with fatigue in employees of the Danish ferry shipping industry. Like many other industries, seafaring has become a highly competitive 24 h-business characterized by an increasing workload to be dealt with under constant time pressure [1, 2] Conditions such as these are likely to contribute to subjective stress experience, including fatigue, disrupted sleep, and poor sleep quality on board [3, 4]. Fatigue is problematic, as it may put passengers at risk [12, 19]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
