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Sensemaking in Safety Critical and Complex Situations
“ Human factors” is a relatively novel concept to naval architects and marine engineers. It covers a broad discipline with various dimensions, including habitability,
workability, controllability, occupational health and safety ( OHS), maintainability,
maneuverability and survivability ( Lloyd’s Register, 2008, 2009). From the human
factors perspective, a ship can be considered as a living space, as well as a working
place. A ship is usually equipped with one main control center on the bridge, one local
control center for the engine room and more local control centers for other purposes,
such as cargo handling and other missions. There are many demanding issues for
the crew working on ships, such as fatigue, poor automation, flooding of alarms and
imperfect design, leading to systems that are difficult to use ( and has to be adapted).
REGULATION
Like other products or facilities in the world, a ship is designed and constructed
according to a set of regulations: some are compulsory and some are voluntary. But,
unlike most other products or facilities which usually follow regulations applied in
the country where they are located or marketed, a ship can be designed and built
according to regulations from a country with more lenient protocols. This practice
is called flag of convenience. Essentially, there are two sets of regulations that a ship
must follow: international standards set by the International Maritime Organization
( IMO) and the flag state where the ship is registered. Ship-owners can decide which
flag their ships will be registered under. There is another set of standards that
ship-owners shall decide for their ship, i.e. those published by the classification societies. The latter is considered more important and significant to ship design as this
chapter will present. It is not endorsed by any authority per se, but more for insurance, assurance and marketing purposes.
IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for the
safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships ( International Maritime Organization, 2020). The main role of IMO is
to create a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective,
universally adopted and universally implemented.
IMO publishes documents in different format: agreements, circulars, codes, conventions, guidelines, manuals, model courses, procedures, recommendations, regulations, rules and resolutions. The key regulatory concepts are:
• Conventions ( formal agreements between states – that can become a law)
• Code: Detailed description of requirements, part of the convention, providing the international standards
• Resolutions ( changes to the conventions)
• Recommendations are guidelines not formally adopted
• Circulars ( clarifications, interpretations of codes and conventions)
Several conventions are significantly important for the human factors’ perspective:
• COLREGS – International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
• Load Lines, 1966 – International Convention on Load Lines
Sensemaking in Safety Critical and Complex Situations
“ Human factors” is a relatively novel concept to naval architects and marine engineers. It covers a broad discipline with various dimensions, including habitability,
workability, controllability, occupational health and safety ( OHS), maintainability,
maneuverability and survivability ( Lloyd’s Register, 2008, 2009). From the human
factors perspective, a ship can be considered as a living space, as well as a working
place. A ship is usually equipped with one main control center on the bridge, one local
control center for the engine room and more local control centers for other purposes,
such as cargo handling and other missions. There are many demanding issues for
the crew working on ships, such as fatigue, poor automation, flooding of alarms and
imperfect design, leading to systems that are difficult to use ( and has to be adapted).
REGULATION
Like other products or facilities in the world, a ship is designed and constructed
according to a set of regulations: some are compulsory and some are voluntary. But,
unlike most other products or facilities which usually follow regulations applied in
the country where they are located or marketed, a ship can be designed and built
according to regulations from a country with more lenient protocols. This practice
is called flag of convenience. Essentially, there are two sets of regulations that a ship
must follow: international standards set by the International Maritime Organization
( IMO) and the flag state where the ship is registered. Ship-owners can decide which
flag their ships will be registered under. There is another set of standards that
ship-owners shall decide for their ship, i.e. those published by the classification societies. The latter is considered more important and significant to ship design as this
chapter will present. It is not endorsed by any authority per se, but more for insurance, assurance and marketing purposes.
IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for the
safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships ( International Maritime Organization, 2020). The main role of IMO is
to create a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective,
universally adopted and universally implemented.
IMO publishes documents in different format: agreements, circulars, codes, conventions, guidelines, manuals, model courses, procedures, recommendations, regulations, rules and resolutions. The key regulatory concepts are:
• Conventions ( formal agreements between states – that can become a law)
• Code: Detailed description of requirements, part of the convention, providing the international standards
• Resolutions ( changes to the conventions)
• Recommendations are guidelines not formally adopted
• Circulars ( clarifications, interpretations of codes and conventions)
Several conventions are significantly important for the human factors’ perspective:
• COLREGS – International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
• Load Lines, 1966 – International Convention on Load Lines