‘ An unfortunate error ‘ , Issue 36 , September 2014
The Nautical Institute has publsihed its latest Alert! focusing on operability (controllability + workability), accessibility and manoeuvrability.The cover story paints the unfortunate tale of the day that it all went wrong for the master, when captain briefly lost control of his ship due to weather and a number of design flaws.
David Squire, Alert! Editor, comments: ”It is often said that if you ask 10 ship’s mastershow they want their bridge laid out you will get10 different answers. Likewise, if you were toask 10 chief mates to design the layout of theircargo control room or 10 chief engineers theirmachinery control room. This is not surprising,because, for a variety of reasons, each personhas his own preferences for the layout of controlspaces, for the way in which he/she monitors,receives and processes information, reacts toalarms and alerts and manages the variouscontrols associated with a myriad of instrumentsand systems associated with the navigation andthe safe conduct of the ship.”
”Height, stature, hearing, visuality, manualdexterity (right-handed or left-handed), culture,language, age (boomers, generation x, generationy) can dictate one’s personal preferences for thepositioning (head-up, head-down, line of sight)and type (analogue, digital, linear, circular, rollerball, mouse) of controls, readouts, gauges andoperating systems. Add to that the problems ofunderstanding the operation of different systemsfrom different manufacturers – each of whom iscompeting for business and wants to add another’useful tool’- and without proper familiarisationand training, then it is no wonder that accidentssuch as that described in our cover story occur.”
This Alert!bulletin also includes recommendation for control room design and ergonomic criteria for control room equipment and layout.
Further information may be found by reading latest issue (Issue 36, September 2014)
The Alert! Project – launched in October 2003 – is a campaign to improve the awareness of the human element in the maritime industry. This is a Nautical Institute project, sponsored by The Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust. Further information about the human element awareness initiative, and electronic copies of Alert! can be found atwww.he-alert.org |