California Code of Regulations › Title 7 - Harbors and Navigation › Division 2 - State Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun › Article 6 - Government of Pilots, Inland Pilots and Trainees › Section 218.1 - Fatigue Risk Management

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) This section
				implements section 1196.5 of the Code, which requires the Board to evaluate
				factors that contribute to pilot fatigue and to adopt regulations that will
				prevent pilot fatigue and thereby ensure the safe operation of
				vessels.
(b) The Port Agent shall
				prepare and submit to the Board for review and approval a fatigue risk
				management system. The FRMS proposed by the Port Agent shall be developed to
				ensure that the operations of the pilots support effective rest opportunities
				and fatigue mitigation measures. The FRMS shall include the specific
				restrictions on work hours and rest periods mandated by this section. The FRMS
				shall also include the additional elements specified in this section. Subject
				to Board approval, the content of these elements is committed in the first
				instance to the Port Agent. Requiring initial development of the FRMS by the
				Port Agent is based on the premise that the Port Agent is most familiar with
				the day-to-day operations of the pilots and is well situated to evaluate what
				fatigue-management measures will or won't work in the context of what the
				pilots do and how they do it.
(c)
				Pilots are limited to a maximum work period of 14 hours. A work period starts
				at the time a pilot would need to report to San Francisco Bar Pilots
				headquarters to begin an assignment and ends at the time a pilot, having
				completed the last of one or more assignments, would arrive back at San
				Francisco Bar Pilots headquarters. The Port Agent may include in the FRMS a
				maximum work period less than 14 hours, stating the rationale for the shorter
				work period. The Port Agent shall report monthly in writing to the Board
				instances of work periods in excess of 12 hours.
(d) Pilots are limited to a maximum night
				work period of 12 hours without a rest opportunity on the offshore station boat
				between assignments. The FRMS shall set forth the definition of rest
				opportunity, which shall be subject to Board approval. In reviewing the FRMS
				under subsection (j), the Board shall approve this definition if it determines
				that the definition is reasonably designed to contribute to the prevention of
				pilot fatigue. A night work period is any work period that includes all or any
				portion of the hours between 0000 and 0600. The Port Agent may include in the
				FRMS a maximum night work period less than 12 hours, stating the rationale for
				the shorter night work period. The Port Agent shall report monthly in writing
				to the Board instances of night work periods in excess of 10 hours without a
				rest opportunity on the offshore station boat between assignments.
(e) Pilots are limited to a maximum of 18
				night-time hours worked in any 72-hour period. A night-time hour is any whole
				or partial hour worked between 0000 and 0600. If a pilot has reached the
				18-hour limit, the Port Agent shall not assign that pilot to work in any night
				work period that would include a night-time hour worked prior to 0800 of the
				calendar day next following the calendar day on which the 18-hour limit was
				reached. The Port Agent may include in the FRMS a limit lower than 18 hours of
				night-time hours worked in any 72-hour period, stating the rationale for the
				lower limit. The Port Agent shall report monthly in writing to the Board the
				number of assignments made in which a pilot was assigned to work in a night
				work period that included a night-time hour worked prior 0800 of the calendar
				day next following the calendar day on which the 18-hour limit was
				reached.
(f) Pilots are limited to
				a maximum of 15 consecutive days of being available for assignment. The Port
				Agent may include in the FRMS a protocol for providing pilots who are available
				for assignment for 14 or 15 consecutive days an extended rest period greater
				than the minimum 10-hour rest period required by subsection (g) at or around
				the midpoint of the 14- or 15-day period, stating the rationale for the
				protocol.
(g) A rest period is the
				period between work periods, as defined in subsection (c). The minimum rest
				period for pilots between work periods is 10 hours. The Port Agent shall report
				monthly in writing to the Board the number and duration of rest periods of less
				than 12 hours.
(h) Concerning each
				of the requirements set forth in subsections (c) through (g), circumstances may
				arise upon or adjacent to waters under the Board's jurisdiction that pose an
				immediate threat of harm to persons, property, vessels, or the marine
				environment. When, in the opinion of the Port Agent, there is reasonable cause
				to believe that the risk of harm to persons, property, vessels, or the marine
				environment exceeds the risks associated with (1) extending work periods, (2)
				making assignments exceeding the limits on night-time hours, (3) extending the
				number of consecutive days pilots are available for assignment, or (4)
				authorizing exceptions to the minimum rest period, the Port Agent may depart
				from the limitations set forth in subsections (c) through (g). For each such
				departure, the Port Agent shall report monthly in writing to the Board the fact
				of the departure and the circumstances and reasons therefor.
(i) The Port Agent shall include the
				following elements in the FRMS:
(1) A plan
				regarding assignment of pilots that minimizes disruption of their recovery rest
				periods.
(2) Minimum advance notice
				to the Port Agent by those ordering pilot services, thereby increasing the
				predictability of pilot schedules.
(3) A plan to use various measures to
				increase the number of pilots available to provide pilotage at any given
				time.
(4) A plan to educate pilots
				on the importance of reporting fatigue and pausing their availability for
				assignment when they are significantly fatigued.
(5) Measures to mitigate pilot fatigue
				occasioned by long-distance travel to and from mandated training. The Port
				Agent shall consider:
(A) Delaying a pilot's
				return to piloting assignments following travel.
(B) A travel mode that would minimize the
				number of travel segments, minimize total travel time, and enhance rest
				opportunities.
(6) Any
				other elements that the Port Agent believes will further the objective of
				preventing pilot fatigue and thereby ensuring the safe operation of
				vessels.