NTSB_Proceedings.pdf (8.9 MB for the
full report)
In 1995, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and NASA Ames Research Center co-sponsored a multimodal symposium addressing fatigue-related issues in all modes of public transportation. Close to 600 people from 15 countries attended this event in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
The Chairman of the NTSB, Jim Hall, opened the symposium by noting that "with the increasing industrialization of society, people are more and more exposed to the dangers of fatigue." He stated that "The Safety Board has issued nearly 80 fatigue-related Safety Recommendations since 1972 to the modal administrations in the Department of Transportation, transportation operations, associations, and unions" and "in 1989, we issued three major safety recommendations to the DOT, calling for a coordinated and aggressive federal program to address the fatigue problem in all sectors of the transportation industry." Chairman Hall then pointed out how fatigue presents a safety risk in all modes of transportation, and that 43,000 American lives were lost in transportation accidents in the last year which "should provide us with all the motivation we need."
Presentations on the first day focused on educational aspects, including:
Presenters were Jim Danaher (NTSB), Drs. Mark Rosekind (NASA Ames), David Dinges, Alan Pack (University of Pennsylvania), Tom Roth (Henry Ford Hospital), and Charles Czeisler (Brigham & Womens' Hospital).
A banquet the evening of November 1 featured as guest speaker Dr. William Dement, one of the world's foremost authorities on sleep, who recently headed up the National Commission on Sleep Disorder Research.
The second day opened with an address by the Secretary of Transportation, Frederico Pena, in which he posed the challenge "what can we do to delay loss of alertness, to detect it if it occurs, and to prevent a fatigue-caused accident?"
All symposium attendees then split into modal (aviation, rail, highway, marine, and pipeline) working groups to address the issues:
The symposium also introduced the Fatigue Resource Directory. This first of its kind document provides transportation-industry members with current, accessible information on resources available to address fatigue in transportation.
Proceedings of the symposium are also available from the NTSB. For further information, contact:
NTSB_Proceedings.pdf (8.9 MB for the
full report)
NTSB_proceedings_opening_remarks.pdf (943K)
NTSB_proceedings_presentation.pdf (4.2 MB)
NTSB_proceedings_keynote.pdf (1.2 MB)
NTSB_proceedings_reports.pdf (726K)