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In order to see the current trends in maritime training today, I think that it is a good idea to see what the parameters are affecting training nowadays. Are the same as they were in the past? Is there any difference?
To sum up, the most important to take into consideration are the following:
- Safety Issues / Human Element
- New technology (communications, use of Internet, social networks)
- Complexity of regulations
In spite of recent improvements, the overall accident trend line for most vessel types continues to rise, indicating a need to take further action. Stringent safety requirements in the Offshore Supply segment prove that safety performance can improve even in the most hazardous environments.
Trend in Maritime Accidents
Several studies report that:
- 900 crew and passenger fatalities per year
- No of fatalities due to occupational accidents ≈ No of fatalities for ship-related accidents
- 6 crew fatalities / 100 million work hours
- The current crew fatality in shipping is 10 times higher than for industry workers in OECD countries which is 0.6 fatalities / 100 million work hours
So, there is a need to reduce that number and make shipping a safe industry to work for.
Everything in shipping regarding accidents and risk come from aviation. However, aviation seems to be doing a lot better in risk management and reporting the actual number of accidents and incidents. Two main differences are the role of the human error and the willingness to share lessons learned with the rest of the industry. Aviation has developed a stronger culture of accident investigation by applying lessons learned to minimize risk whereas maritime industry often tends to blame accidents on human error, making it difficult to issue safety recommendations that result in long-term improvements.
A study conducted by the World Maritime University reviewed over 41 casualty investigation resulting to the following conclusions:
- Unsafe acts or conditions were identified as casual factors in 76%of all cases
- Investigations were often terminated prematurely without acknowledging other factors contributing to unsafe actions
To improve its safety record, the maritime industry needs to evaluate and assess preconditions and contributing factors of human performance and also to report every single incident, fostering a culture of sharing information on accidents, near misses and incidents that could have had severe consequences. This will help the industry to design appropriate training programmes and procedures.
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Trend#1 – Social Learning: there are many facebook and Linkedin groups devoted to sharing maritime knowledge. Trend#2 -In house courses allow maritime workers to be trained for their jobs, on their vessel/ in their company by using their specific equipment Trend#3 – eLearning: The STCW Manila Amendments specifically recognize the use of e-learning for training and assessment (section B-I/6 – Guidance regarding training and assessment. However there is risk here and balance is needed because nothing can substitute classroom/person to person training 100%. People tend to become passive, impatient and unable to develop their imagination Trend#4 – Focus on non-Technical Skills; communication, teamwork and leadership |
Above article is an edited version of Marina Papaioannou presentation during 2014 SAFETY4SEA Forum
More details may be found by viewing her Presentation video
