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ENDURANCE Physical conditioning Work schedules E Crew Endurance Management Page 3 A Nautical Institute project sponsored by Lloyd’s Register EMEA The International Maritime Human Element Bulletin Issue No. 4 July 2004 The Nautical Institute The 7 needs of the mariner Page 4-5 T his edition of Alert! is about human issues - in the context of Mind, Body and Spirit. It addresses some of the many physiological and psychological factors that can affect the ability of the mariner to do his job. The global nature of our business is such that the maritime workforce is multinational and multicultural, which can lead to differing interpretations of international guidelines and inconsistent standards in lifestyle, training and education, working environments and habitability. In our central feature, we examine the many and varied physiological, psychological and spiritual needs of the mariner. The articles in these Bulletins are written by, and for, maritime professionals from a broad interdisciplinary cross section of the maritime industry. They are deliberately brief and, in many cases, are linked to longer articles, papers and presentations, which are held in the Alert! website database at www.he-alert.org, or to other websites. The Alert! project offers a forum for like- minded people to share ideas and solve problems and, through the website, a reference resource for study and information. Contributions to the Bulletin and to the website database are always welcome, as are letters to the editor, which will be published on the website. The Editor Alert! The Nautical Institute 202 Lambeth Road London SE1 7LQ [email protected] Garbage In, Garbage Out ..... The term Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO) is one of the great proverbs of the computer age which says that if invalid, inaccurate or inappropriate data is entered into a system, the resulting output will be invalid, inaccurate or inappropriate. In other words, the quality of the output is directly dependent on the quality of the input. If we apply this to the maritime human element, the personal output of the mariner is dependant on 7 needs: Moral values (Spirit) Self actualisation (Spirit) Happy & healthy lifestyle (Body) Attitude (Mind) Safe & secure working environment (Body) Competence (Mind) Motivation (Mind) As most shipboard systems depend on some level of human involvement, the human link is a potential frailty that needs to be managed, monitored and nurtured. Healthy, happy, well trained and motivated mariners are essential to the safe running and commercial efficiency of any ship. P eople are important and ships need good, qualified, and motivated people to operate well. The use of technology has been introduced into many aspects of ship operation and design in recent years in order to reduce manning levels and costs, and improve operations. Previous issues of Alert! have examined Performance Influencing Factors (Issue 2) and Ergonomics (Issue 3), but what of the basic human needs of the Mind, the Body and the Spirit? Today’s maritime employment trends often concentrate on low crew costs, with workloads and living environments that can cause fatigue and frustration. Is this value for money? One mariner, in a letter to Alert! suggests that the only motivation at sea now is money; that short turn- round times and pressure of work ensure that shore leave is brief and infrequent; and that ethnic and cultural diversity limit social life. He adds: ‘Seamen are intensely proud of their job, their position, and their uniform yet we are increasingly feeling alienated from the world around us.’ He suggests that ‘the most effective way to treat the human element is to treat the seafarer as a human, with human pride.’ Improving the awareness of the human element in the maritime industry Mind, Body, Spirit Winner Innovation in Ship Operations Award
8
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Page 1: Alert! 4

ENDURANCE

Physicalconditioning

Workschedules

E

Crew EnduranceManagement

Page 3

A Nautical Institute project sponsored by Lloyd’s Register EMEA

The International MaritimeHuman Element Bulletin

Issue No. 4 July 2004

The NauticalInstitute

The 7 needs ofthe mariner

Page 4-5

This edition of Alert! is about human

issues - in the context of Mind, Body

and Spirit. It addresses some of the

many physiological and psychological

factors that can affect the ability of the

mariner to do his job. The global nature

of our business is such that the

maritime workforce is multinational

and multicultural, which can lead to

differing interpretations of international

guidelines and inconsistent standards

in lifestyle, training and education,

working environments and habitability.

In our central feature, we examine

the many and varied physiological,

psychological and spiritual needs of

the mariner.

The articles in these Bulletins are written

by, and for, maritime professionals

from a broad interdisciplinary cross

section of the maritime industry. They

are deliberately brief and, in many

cases, are linked to longer articles,

papers and presentations, which are

held in the Alert! website database at

www.he-alert.org, or to other websites.

The Alert! project offers a forum for like-

minded people to share ideas and solve

problems and, through the website, a

reference resource for study and

information. Contributions to the Bulletin

and to the website database are always

welcome, as are letters to the editor,

which will be published on the website.

The Editor

Alert!

The Nautical Institute

202 Lambeth Road

London

SE1 7LQ

[email protected]

Garbage In, Garbage Out.....The term Garbage In, Garbage Out(GIGO) is one of the great proverbs ofthe computer age which says that ifinvalid, inaccurate or inappropriatedata is entered into a system, theresulting output will be invalid,inaccurate or inappropriate. In otherwords, the quality of the output isdirectly dependent on the quality ofthe input.

If we apply this to the maritime humanelement, the personal output of themariner is dependant on 7 needs:

• Moral values (Spirit)

• Self actualisation (Spirit)

• Happy & healthy lifestyle (Body)

• Attitude (Mind)

• Safe & secure working environment (Body)

• Competence (Mind)

• Motivation (Mind)

As most shipboard systems depend onsome level of human involvement, thehuman link is a potential frailty thatneeds to be managed, monitored andnurtured. Healthy, happy, well trainedand motivated mariners are essentialto the safe running and commercialefficiency of any ship.

People are important and shipsneed good, qualified, and

motivated people to operate well. Theuse of technology has been introducedinto many aspects of ship operationand design in recent years in order toreduce manning levels and costs, andimprove operations.

Previous issues of Alert! have examinedPerformance Influencing Factors (Issue 2)and Ergonomics (Issue 3), but what ofthe basic human needs of the Mind, theBody and the Spirit? Today’s maritimeemployment trends often concentrateon low crew costs, with workloads andliving environments that can causefatigue and frustration. Is this value for money?

One mariner, in a letter to Alert!suggests that the only motivation atsea now is money; that short turn-round times and pressure of workensure that shore leave is brief andinfrequent; and that ethnic and culturaldiversity limit social life.

He adds: ‘Seamen are intensely proud oftheir job, their position, and their uniformyet we are increasingly feeling alienatedfrom the world around us.’ He suggeststhat ‘the most effective way to treat thehuman element is to treat the seafarer asa human, with human pride.’

Improving the awareness of the human element in the maritime industry

Mind, Body, Spirit

WinnerInnovation in Ship Operations Award

Page 2: Alert! 4

2 Inside this issue:

MET Providers take the Initiative 2

Maritime Resource Management 2

Crew Endurance Management:Extending Beyond Fatigue 3

Seafarers with Spirit 3

The 7 needs of the mariner 4/5

Joined up maritime health 6

Communication - a step towardsEmotional Intelligence 6

Seafarers’ wellbeing -an holistic approach 7

Accident Investigation Reports 8

Reports and Studies 8

The International Maritime Human Element Bulletin

Editor: David Squire, FNI

The Nautical Institute, 202 Lambeth RoadLondon SE1 7LQ

T: +44(0) 20 7928 1351

F: +44(0) 20 7401 2817

E: [email protected]

The opinions expressed herein are those of the editoror contributors and do not necessarily represent theviews of The Nautical Institute or Lloyd’s Register EMEA.

The Nautical Institute and Lloyd’s Register EMEA,their affiliates and subsidiaries and their respectiveofficers, employees or agents are, individually andcollectively, referred to as ‘The Nautical Institute andLloyd’s Register EMEA’. The Nautical Institute andLloyd’s Register EMEA assume no responsibility andshall not be liable to any person for any loss, damageor expense caused by reliance on the information oradvice in this Bulletin or howsoever provided, unlessthat person has signed a contract with an entity fromThe Nautical Institute and Lloyd’s Register EMEA forthe provision of this information or advice and in thatcase any responsibility or liability is exclusively on theterms and conditions set out in that contract.

major claims. To tackle these and othercauses related to human behaviour, TheSwedish Club became involved, some tenyears ago, in the development of BridgeResource Management (BRM) training. Thistraining focuses on personal attitudesrather than conventional navigating and ship handling skills. The overall aim is to foster a behaviour where all available resources - team members, pilots,equipment, procedures, VTS etc - are usedin an optimum way leading to the safestpossible passage.

Together with its 13 licensed trainingproviders, The Swedish Club recently took adecision to rename the course MaritimeResource Management (MRM). Since theresources that have to be managed are notalways concentrated on the bridge webelieve that the new name will reflect boththe content and the objectives of thecourse more accurately. In addition, it is our hope that all target groups - bridgeofficers, engineers, pilots and shore-basedpersonnel will feel more comfortable with this.

The Association of Maritime Education &Training Institutions in Asia Pacific(AMETIAP), founded in Hong Kong in 1996, has 89 Member Institutions in 22economies, 2 Honorary Members and 12Associate members. AMETIAP secretary,Rod Short, explains the importance of suchan Institution.

Global manning and technologicaldevelopment will continue to impact onseafarers. As an industry that must recruitits seafarers from wherever best meets its needs, shipping is at the forefront of globalised employment. Moderntechnology has resulted in a greatermonitoring role on the part of thosecontrolling a ship at sea. The dailychallenges of the former ‘hands-on’ roleshave decreased. Work at sea brings littlepersonal fulfilment for many seafarers.

Despite many endeavours - STCW, the‘White List’, national regulation, and thesteps taken by responsible ship ownersand managers - standards of MaritimeEducation and Training (MET) differ widely.

Maritime Educationand Training Providerstake the Initiative

The rapid increase in the numbers ofcommercial training centres in severalmajor manning countries has led to many‘graduates’ who lack basic competence oreven understanding of the industry theyare entering, yet still find employment onboard ship.

To ensure the industry is able to access thecompetent workforce it requires, theseneeds must be taken into account in thedevelopment of appropriate MET. Globallymuch needs to be done to address serioushuman issues.

Through association and through creatinga ‘voice’ for MET, the providers andinterested parties are ensuring a moreeffective role in developments thatrecognise the needs of safe and efficientship operation, but also the need for moreto be done about very important humanneeds, particularly with multi-cultural crews.

The development of AMETIAP is a majorinitiative by the MET providers to assist inaddressing these issues.

Rod Short

Around 1990, marine insurers intensifiedtheir efforts in the loss prevention field. Animportant reason was that premiums hadreached the bottom in the premium cycleand while it seemed hard to influence theincome, the focus turned to the cost ofclaims.The Swedish Club was no exceptionand in 1993 a full time loss preventionofficer was employed. Since then, The Clubhas spent a lot of time and effort ininvestigating and trying to get a betterunderstanding of the causes of accidents.

Investigations carried out show that a breakdown in communication andteamwork is a common factor in many

MaritimeResourceManagement- Taking BridgeResourceManagement one step further

Martin HernqvistManager,

Loss Prevention &Information Services

The Swedish Club

A more comprehensive paper on MRM, by one of the training providers can be downloaded from thewebsite www.he-alert.org. (ref: HE0070)

Page 3: Alert! 4

3Crew Endurance Management:Extending Beyond Fatigue

Normal maritime operations exposecrewmembers to a variety of

operational risk factors, which, leftunmanaged, can degrade crew endurance,and thereby both performance and safety levels.

Traditionally, most efforts addressing thehuman element have been directedtowards fatigue management. These andother narrowly focused attempts failed toaddress the wide range of interrelated

variables affecting crew performancewithin a complex marine safety culture.

Aware of this situation, the U.S. CoastGuard’s Research and Development Centerestablished Crew Endurance Management(CEM), a scientifically based program forimproving performance, safety, and moralewhile simultaneously enduring job-relatedchallenges. It addresses a broad scope ofenvironmental, operational, physiological,and psychological factors.

Success in implementing CEM isdependent upon the participation,leadership, and commitment of a vessel’smanagement, operators, and crew. A CrewEndurance Working Group (CEWG)comprised of representatives from alllevels of the vessel’s operation isestablished to identify and address thespecific endurance risks pertinent to itsoperations. It examines an organization’soperational policies regarding matterssuch as sleeping and eating times, effortsto reduce noises for off-watch personnel,and the consideration of individualbehaviors such as diet, exercise, and stress.

The CEWG also enlists the expertise of aCEM Coach; a crewmember trained in thescience behind, and effects of, 15interrelated risk factors, which includethose of temperature, motion, vibrations,intensity of lighting, and other physicalconsiderations aboard a ship. Once thegroup has identified which factors affectits operations, they can begin to prioritize,devise, and deploy CEM plans aboard.

Although only in its beginning stages, theU.S. Coast Guard has made measurableprogress with CEM deployment, includinga demonstration project with AmericanWaterways Operators involving six towingcompanies.

Crew Endurance Management Practices: A Guidefor Maritime Operations can be downloadedfrom the website www.he-alert.org (Ref:HE00265). For further information contact Lt Sam Stevens: [email protected].

The Human Element and Ship Division, United States Coast Guard

To be human is not just to have bodilyand mental needs as defined by the

human sciences. It is also to be a personwith purposes and intentions thattranscend the here and now, reach acrossinto the mysteriousness of the future andinvolve us in deep and treasuredrelationships of love with other people and with God, in ways articulated withindifferent traditions of faith. In short, we arepeople of spirit as well as mind and body.

Despite the commonly held assumptionthat secular attitudes prevail, thesociological evidence is that relatively fewpeople have turned away from belief in,and experience of, the sacred and thespiritual. Across the globe, seven majorreligions account for 83% of the world’spopulation. Amongst seafarers, belongingto religious traditions is particularlycommon - some 60% of them areChristians, a high proportion is Roman

Catholic and many others belong to theIslamic faith.

Human rights legislation requires thatpeople are not denied opportunities topractice their faith. It is a challenge to themaritime industry to ensure appropriateopportunities are provided to the seafarer.

The International Christian Maritime Association(ICMA) <www.icma.as> maintains an onlineDirectory of Christian Centres, Chaplaincies andSeamen’s Welfare Agencies throughout the world.

Seafarers with Spirit

ENDURANCE

Endurance risk factorsPhysical

conditioningWork

schedules

Body clockstability

EnvironmentalStressors

Sleep quality& duration Stress

Motionsickness

Health &nutrition

Rev Dr John StrainDirector, Centre for Applied and Professional Ethics, University of Surrey (UK)

Page 4: Alert! 4

motivator:Driver Education, training, competencies

Knowledge, understanding, aptitude, skill, proficiency

motivator:Driver Self awareness, self evaluation

Mental ability, intelligence, personality, character, sensitivity

motivator:DriverCommunication, direction, teamwork, empowerment, character building

Leadership interoperability, adaptability

motivator:DriverBalanced diet, habitability, hygiene, exercise, rest, recreation, medical screening, D&A testing

Energy, physical fitness, physical strength, stamina, wellbeing

motivator:DriverErgonomics, safe working practices, protective equipment, physical security

Safety culture, security awareness

motivator:DriverPersonal ethics, conscience, cultural integration, leadership, supervision, remuneration

Cultural awarenessmotivator:Driver Religious belief, faith, self discipline

People: Mind, Body & Spirit

MIND

BODY

SPIRITPride, sense of purpose, identity, aesthetics, conviction, trust, expectation, realisation, belonging, loyalty, esteem, fellowship, security

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Page 5: Alert! 4

Competence

Attitude

Motivation

Happy & healthy Lifestyle

Safe & secureworking environment

Selfactualisation

Moral values

leads to:

leads to:

leads to:

leads to:

leads to:

leads to:

leads to:

The 7 needs of the mariner

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MAINTAIN

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DEVELOP / DESIGN / UPDATE

SAFE

CONDUCT OF

THE SHIP

SAFE & TIMELY DELIVERY OF THE CARGO

LIFECYCLE

CompetenceAttitude

MotivationHealthy & happy lifestyle

Safe / secure working environmentSelf actualisation

Moral values

5

Page 6: Alert! 4

Illness at sea matters. For example, asudden collapse on the bridge can

directly put a ship at risk. Commonly itrequires emergency attention by crew-members and evacuation or diversion.Both pose risks to ship operations andsafety. Even more frequently, seafaringcareers and sometimes lives are cut shortby illness and disability which can beavoided by care for personal health and byworking conditions which do not poseaccident or health risks.

Like most aspects of the maritime industryhealth has lots of rules: certification ofmedical fitness, medical first aid training,medical stores, radio-medical advice, andcare for ill seafarers in foreign ports. Likemost rules these are often followedunthinkingly without either consideringtheir adequacy or how well they areobserved if they conflict with economicpriorities. Even the latest proposals by the International Labour Organisation(ILO) for revision of the Maritime LabourConventions leave health scattered at fouror five different places in the verbiage,without a thought about how the ‘healthsystem’ can best function.

The key relationship is that fit seafarersand safe working conditions will reducethe toll which ill-health takes on safety,operations and costs. Yet there have beenfew attempts to look at how to optimiseprevention to reduce such risks. In thisrespect seafaring is well behind aviationand other safety critical industries.

Take heart attacks - which are by far thecommonest fatal illness at sea - andconsider how the risks can be reduced.Ships have gone aground with a deadmaster alone on the bridge; crews havebeen severely taxed looking after seriouslyill colleagues; and not a few casualties landup in hospitals far from home. For thosewho have had an attack their career at seamay sometimes be over, although withchanges in fitness standards this is nownot always the case.

Saving lives, in this context, is not aboutemergency treatment but is aboutattention to personal risk factors such asdiet and smoking. The maritime lifestylehas not helped but these factors arereadily addressed jointly by seafarers and their employers. Regular medicalassessments can look for risks such as high

blood pressure, diabetes and poor weight control.

Joined up thinking about health is notdifficult, but joined up action needs anapproach that is not just rule-based butone that assesses risks, costs and lossesand evaluates the most cost-effective wayof preventing them.

If the goal is to be a safer maritime industrywhich safeguards its assets of experiencedseafarers, then critical thinking about howto reduce health risks is needed. It isalready happening in a few shippingcompanies. It is being encouraged bysome forward looking insurers, tradeunions and maritime authorities and thereare accessible sources of expertiseavailable from bodies like the InternationalMaritime Health Association and also fromacademic groups, often derived from thesuccesses of disease prevention andhealth promotion onshore.

Further information about the InternationalMaritime Health Association can be found atwww.imha.netA series of articles by Dr Carter on specificaspects of seafarers’ health can be found athttp://seafarerswelfare.org/41_medical.htm

6 Joined up maritimehealthDr Tim Carter

Secretary,

International Maritime Health Association

Twenty three seafarers onboard a vesseldo not necessarily constitute a team

just because it comes under that heading,nor do teamwork values ensure teamperformance by themselves. The essenceof a team is common commitment, and aneffective team is always worth more thanthe sum of its parts, under basic disciplines.

The initial constraints of the team’s rightsize and the correct mix of complementaryskills, e.g. technical and functionalexpertise, problem solving and decisionmaking, to perform the job well, havealready been determined by years of shipdesign and sea-going experience - withthe Master at the helm.

However, what seems to be missing,sometimes, is effective communicationbetween the team ashore and themultinational-multicultural group on

board. This in turn depends on theinterpersonal skills used. By this I meanEmotional Intelligence which for sometime has been used to try to create,amongst its members, a feeling of mutualtrust, a sense of identity - we call it ‘family’- and a feeling of efficacy.

Once these conditions are recognised theteam then becomes more competent tosuccessfully deliver the ‘objective’ pointsby achieving higher levels of participation,cooperation and collaboration. Easier saidthan done!

The emotions should be deliberatelybrought to the surface, analysed andunderstood and the close relationship,both internally and externally, should beestablished and maintained. The ability toface the high risk challenges at sea has tobe strengthened in many ways.

- a step towards Emotional IntelligenceCommander HN (Retd) Nicholas A Iliopoulos

Centrofin Management Inc

Communication

People drawtheir emotionalcues fromthose around them. Weconsider it to be the top management’sresponsibility to have established thenorms for both Confrontation and Caring.The former may seem illogical but it isn’t;the group must feel comfortable to callfoul, in either direction. Caring behavior iseasier; it usually only needs concentrationfrom top to bottom on the small matters. Itis profoundly important to display positiveregard, appreciation, respect, support andcompassion.

Our quarterly bulletin WAVELENGTH,addressed to our seafarers in this manner,aspires to develop the willing and talentedmariners to the point that eventuallysurpass us in knowledge and ability.

Page 7: Alert! 4

It is clear that there are no moreimportant factors in the safe

operation of ships than health ofthe crew and the ship boardenvironment.

An holistic approach is needed,with all concerned recognising thatit is in partnership that the bestshipboard environment is achieved.Legislators, regulators, administrators,company and seafarer all have theresponsibility of making a healthyenvironment. The IMO has statedthat ‘Maritime administrations mustensure a safety culture’ and thatcompanies take ‘all appropriatemeasures to encourage pride ofservice and professionalism on thepart of personnel they employ’.

Human error is often quoted as themost common cause of maritimeaccidents. The safety of the vesseldepends upon the skill, vigilanceand physical/mental fitness of theseafarers. The health and fitness ofseafarers must be maintained inorder to ensure the safe operationof a vessel. Working conditionssignificantly impact upon seafarers’health and well-being.

Seafarers’ holistic well-being is notto be found in simply ensuring thatmedical provisions and procedures onboard match up to international statutoryrequirements. It is in the value addedempowering of seafarers with aneducation in healthy life style choices thatmakes the significant difference. So it isthat the holistic view needs to be taken.There needs to be a recognition that in therange of health care provisions, body, mindand spirit need to be nourished and to behealthy. The psychological stress andstrain can be more all-encompassing thana seemingly isolated physical symptom.Assimilating the social mores of amultinational crew can be very exhaustingfor seafarers. Avoiding offence to another’scustoms, culture and creed can be a dailyminefield in the close confines of the ship’ssocial and working life. Some seafarersreadily take to the adventure of socialdialogue with members of the crew from other nationalities but others find the ‘mismatch’ can sometimes beoverpowering. Crewing agencies need totake this into account when billeting a ship.

Dr. Chris Shin, Medical Officer of WestYorkshire Police (UK), summarises thisholistic view according to two overarchingprinciples. The first is to recognise that theprinciple of anabolism actively promotesthe body’s own internal maintenancesystems, ensuring proper growth, repairand replacement of body tissue, stability ofbody chemistry, balanced physiologicalmechanisms and efficient defence againstinfections and cancer. Of centralimportance to this system is that:

• sleep be approximately eight hours per day

• rest requires a ‘feet up and mind disengaged’ characteristic

• close personal relationships present a safe haven to return to away fromlife’s hassle

• self esteem means a feeling of being victorious in life’s struggle and that the diet entails sensible quantities of healthy food, preventing obesity

7

The Reverend Canon Ken PetersJustice & Welfare SecretaryThe Mission To Seafarers

Seafarers’ wellbeingan holistic approach

The counter posing catabolism ischaracterised by:

• physical exercise

• mental effort

• emotional strain

• metabolic excesses (e.g. heavy meals, alcohol in excess of 2-3 units per day)

• loss of self esteem (the feeling of defeat and despair exacerbates the catabolic process)

Without a balanced lifestyleseafarers become vulnerable.Vulnerability translates intoinefficiency and in the context of shipboard life there is theproblem that focus on the job in hand as well as generalconcentration drops to levels that are dangerous. Safety of life at sea is compromised by thedestructive cycle of personalbehaviour (Fig 1). The consequencesfor personal health are disastrousand the implications for the saferunning are such that no amount ofcertification with ISM, STCW or anyother standard will rescue the ship.

Attention to the whole person with dueregard to body, mind and spirit, enablesand empowers the individual to the pointthat personal behaviour and life style is notonly healthy for the individual but reflectsin the interaction with the whole crew (Fig

2). The effects on crew moral translate intoincreased efficiency and more importantlythe safe running of the ship is optimisedand safety is no longer compromised.

“The standard of safety of a ship isdependent not only on the health of the shipbut more on the health of the seafarers incharge of the operation of the ship.”

(M. Fuazudeen - Technical Officer STCW & Human

Element Section, Maritime Saftey Division, IMO at

the 6th International Symposium on Maritime

Health, 5-8th November 2001, Manila)

The Mission to Seafarers’ website can befound at www.missiontoseafarers.org

Other useful websites:The International Committee on Seafarers’Welfare (ICSW): www.seafarerswelfare.org

VULNERABILITY

Psychological &

physiological

disturbance

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WELL BEING

Psychological &

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balance

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Fig 1: The Destructive Hermeneutic Cycle

Fig 2: The Empowering Hermeneutic Cycle

Page 8: Alert! 4

8

&

AccidentInvestigationReports

This report from the Australian TransportSafety Bureau concerns the grounding of

a 110,541gt bulk carrier, during a pilotage,not as a result of navigational error butbecause of the total failure of the ship’selectrical power supply and the lack of timelyintervention by the crew, when the risk to theship could have been mitigated.

The ship grounded as a direct result of aloss of steering because the ship’s threemain generators had tripped off the mainswitchboard due to water contaminationof their fuel supply, and because theemergency generator failed to start auto-matically due to a previously undetectedfault in one of its starting batteries.

The chief engineer did not communicatethe gravity of the generator problem tothe master. Given his uncertaintyregarding what had caused the generatorshut downs, and his awareness of the ship’scritical navigation situation, the chiefengineer should have discussed thesituation more fully with the master, whichwould have given the master theopportunity to form a contingency plan, inconsultation with the pilot, to mitigate therisk to the ship.

Pertinent observations from the report are that:

• The emergency generator was tested,on average, once a month with the last time being 12 days before the incident.The report comments that while SOLAS does not stipulate a specific test interval for the emergency generator, it does so for other critical safety equipment, which must be tested weekly. It adds that it seems inconsistent that emergency generators should rate operation and inspection as infrequently as once every month, and that had the generator been tested in the week prior to the incident, it is possible that the problem with the starting battery may have been discovered and rectified.

• In critical ship’s operations, like pilotage,there is a need to ensure that communication is effective between the bridge and the engine room.

• There are no requirements for engineering officers to undergo Bridge Resource Management Training.

• The ship’s safety management system

checklists for this type of breakdown were of a general form and, as such,would not have provided any guidance or advice which would have been of assistance to the master or chief engineer during the events which occurred.

• Although the ship’s safety management system provided for periodic training for such emergency situations, this scenario had last been practiced more than ten months prior to the incident.

The report recommends that Shipowners/managers should:

• Review the procedures for, and frequency of, testing emergency power generation arrangements on their ships to ensure that this equipment has the highest possible reliability and availability.

• Consider Bridge Resource Management training for engineering officers.

The full report is available from the ATSBwebsite at:www.atsb.gov.au/marine/pdf/184_hanjin_dampier.pdf

ReportsStudies

Grounding of a vessel

This paper opens with a brief introduction tothe development of Crew ResourceManagement (CRM) training in theinternational shipping industry. It charts thedevelopment of the shipping industry’sapproach to the preparation of bridge andengine room teams for normal and abnormaloperations, and critiques the current trainingregime in resource management.The paper provides an overview of threeresearch initiatives, in order to:

• gain a better theoretical understanding ofthe nature of shared situational awareness andmental models in “real world” maritimeoperations.

• identify a set of behavioural markers forassessing the non-technical skills of crisismanagement.

• explore the role of organisational factors insafe operation, in recognition of the limitationsof operator training as a panacea to preventthe re-occurrence of accidents.

The paper can be downloaded from thewebsite www.he-alert.org (Ref: HE00240)

A RESEARCH AGENDA IN MARITIMECREW RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Michael Barnett, PhD; David Gatfield, MSc;Claire Pekcan, MSc

PRINCIPLES OF SAFE MANNING

IMO Resolution A.890(21) - 4 February 2000

due to the failure of the ship’s electrical power supply

At its 21st session in November 1999, theIMO Assembly adopted resolutionA.890(21) on principles of safe manning.Amendments to the resolution wereadopted by the 23rd Assembly throughResolution A.955(23).

The resolution notes that safe manning is afunction of the number of qualified andexperienced seafarers necessary for thesafety of the ship, crew, passengers, cargoand property for the protection of themarine environment and that the ability ofseafarers to maintain observance of therequirements is also dependent uponconditions relating to training, hours ofwork and rest, occupational safety, healthand hygiene and the proper provision of food.

Copies of the Resolutions can bedownloaded from the IMO website at:www.imo.org/includes/blastDataOnly.asp/data_id%3D9047/890.pdfandwww.imo.org/includes/blastDataOnly.asp/data_id%3D9048/955.pdf