High speed boat operators pursue injury reduction
The impact of high speed craft isn’t just on the water.
The recent High Speed Boat Operations forum highlighted that the biggest factor restricting the use of such craft is not their actual speed but rather, the vulnerability of the human crew and passengers.
HSBO 2010, the fourth edition of the technology-based forum, was held in Gothenburg and it noted that while the industry has for many years focused on making their boats faster and more efficient, this has had a literal impact on crew.
Due to the very high slamming forces encountered during operation, more people get injured in high speed boat occupations than in any other. Acute back and neck injuries can cause life long suffering and chronic degeneration has been observed in the spine, joints and limbs. Exposure to repeated impacts has also been shown to significantly reduce human performance and therefore operational effectiveness by causing physical fatigue.
HSBO 2010 gathered 170 individuals from over 20 countries. Delegates and presenters are among the world’s most knowledgeable experts in the field of HSC, and representatives from operators, naval architects, scientists, and boat builders as well as and procurement officials were present.
More than 30 presentations were given, targeting methods to enhance operational performance and reduce the risk of injury. Topics included new hull designs and manufacturing methods, injury mechanics and shock mitigation technology, EU shock and vibration legislation, training, anti-piracy procedures, and ship boarding equipment and operations.
Dr Trevor Dobbins from STResearch presented the results of studies undertaken with the UK MOD examining the repeated shock exposure onboard high speed boats, comparing traditional fixed seats with a suspended jockey style seat. One study showed how the suspension seat reduces the transfer of shocks from the deck to the occupant by a factor 4:1 (a ‘transfer function’ of 0.23). The presentation also showed how this technology reduced fatigue from 23% in the fixed seat passengers to zero in the passengers using the Ullman suspension seat as compared to fixed seats, concluding that the tested technology can not only reduce the risk of injury but also enhance the operational effectiveness of the boat crew and its passengers.
Several new studies have shown that persons standing up during repeated impacts are exposed to impacts up to three times greater than those measured from the deck, with the average being an increase of 1.5 times. Therefore, a 4G impact on the deck results in an average shock loading of 6G on the backs of standing occupants. This is because at impact the boat is gradually stopped by the water and people standing up impact with the deck first when the boat’s movement has stopped.
Dr Johan Ullman MD presented the scientific background and bio-mechanic principles behind the Ullman seats, whose technologies are based on optimizing suspensions to enhance the human body’s natural reflex based protection system as well as maintaining optimal balanced postures during impact.
HSBO Forum is held biannually and the next will be in April 2012. See www.hsbo.org for more information.
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