HUMAN FACTORS AND INTERPERSONAL

RELATIONSHIPS
 HUMAN FACTORS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE
Human factors influence our performance of
professional duties.
We need to understand our capabilities and
limitations.
Technology, environments and organisations are
designed to be compatible with our abilities.
 HUMAN FACTORS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE
This kind of human-centered approach han many
benefits, including increased efficiency
effectiveness and morale, decreased errors and
accidents, training costs, personnel injuries and
lost time.
 VARIATIONS IN HUMAN PERFORMANCE
The Maritime system is a people oriented system.
People interact with technology. The environment and
the Organisation.
The weak link in the system is humans.
Performance of humans is dependent upon various
factors: Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Memory.
Motivation and Alertness.
 KNOWLEDGE

Specific information and understanding

of the job, role or the technology one is
working with, is an important factor
influencing human performance.
 SKILLS

The proficiency, facility or dexterity that

is acquired or developed through training
and experience, a talent or ability that
has been developed by putting
knowledge into practice.
 ABILITIES

Abilities refer to an individual’s natural or

acquired mental or physical power to
accomplish the job assigned to him.
 MEMORY

Memory refers to the process of reproducing

or recalling what has been learnt. In context
of human performance it means an
individual’s ability to recall what was learnt
through training or experience and apply it in
one’s job.
 MOTIVATION

A learned behavior occurs only if it is

energized or backed by a reason, which gives
purpose and direction. Both observation and
research show that motivated employees are
more productive. One requires to take pride
in what one is doing.
 ALERTNESS

In the Merchant Navy, alertness is an

important determinant of human
performance. The nature of the job requires
an individual to be watchful and quick in
perceiving and responding to danger or
emergency.
 ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS
Organisational factors: Human performance:
1. Work schedules 1. Fatigue
2. Training 2. Knowledge and skills
3. Communication 3. Work practices
4. Hierarchy and structure of 4. Teamwork
the team 5. Risk-taking
1. Safety culture
 ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS

Crew size and training decisions directly

affect crew workload and their capabilities to
perform safely and effectively. Free
interactive communication within any team
hierarchy can enhance effective teamwork.
 ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS
Work schedules should provide individuals with regular
and sufficient sleep time to reduce fatigue. There are
certain time when it is difficult to fully pre-plan tasks
into a schedule. This results in individuals performing
tasks at odd times and with long hours. Eg. port
operations, short voyages.
This uncertainty affects the individual’s performance,
and the individual needs to adapt to the times.
 ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS
The hierarchy and structure on board can play a major
role in performance. With encouragement and support,
the individual’s opportunity to learn and improve is
greatly enhanced. However if the entire team is
overworked and burdened, the onus of taking the
initiative to learn lies with the individual.
Company policies directly influence the degree of risk-
taking behavior and operational safety.
 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
The environment affects the performance as well.
Environment includes weather, lighting, noise, temperature
and regulatory and economic climates.
The human body performs best in a restricted temperature
range. Outside this range, performance is affected and could
fail altogether in extreme temperatures.
Weather and ship’s vibrations can affect locomotion and
manual dexterity and cause stress and fatigue. Economic
conditions can increase risk-taking.
 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
The design of technology can have a big impact on an
individual’s performance. Humans come in different sizes
with varying strength.
Data entry keys too small for a gloved hand, cutoff switches out of reach etc.
Automation is designed without much thought to the
information that the user needs to access. Critical
information is sometimes not displayed at all or so displayed
that interpreting the data becomes difficult. This leads to
incomplete comprehension of the state of the system and to
poor decision making.
 ROLE OF HUMAN ERROR IN ACCIDENTS
Today’s ship systems are technologically advanced
and highly reliable.
Yet. Maritime casualty rates are high.
WHY?
The maritime system is a human system, and
human errors figure prominently in casualty
situations.
 ROLE OF HUMAN ERROR IN ACCIDENTS
75 to 96 % of marine casualties are caused by some
form of human error.

 84-88% tanker accidents

 79% of groundings
 89 – 96% collisions
 75% fires and explosions
 ROLE OF HUMAN ERROR IN ACCIDENTS
Human errors are often blamed on carelessness or lack
of attention or mistakes by the human. However they
are deeper and more complicated in the maritime
system. Human errors are generally caused by
technologies, environments and organisations which
are incompatible with optimal human performance.
These incompatibilities “set up” the human operator to
make mistakes.
 ROLE OF HUMAN ERROR IN ACCIDENTS

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO OVERCOME THIS

DRAWBACK?
Management expects humans to adapt to
the system rather than the system being
designed in a way such that the system
adapts to the human.
 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SKILLS
HUMANS TEND TO LEARN BY LISTENING, SEEING,
AND EXPERIENCING.
HOWEVER, THEIR APTITUDE TO PERFORM IS
BASED ON THEIR KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND
ATTITUDE. ALL THIS CAN BE LEARNT TO AN
EXTENT. SIMILARLY, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
SKILLS CAN BE DEVELOPED.
 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SKILLS
Development of a SAFETY CULTURE is extremely
important. The areas where the maritime industry can
improve safety and performance are:
1. Stress 5. Lack of Teamwork
2. Mismanagement of time 6. Decisions based on Inadequate
3. Inadequate communications Information
4. Lack of Motivation and Positive 7. Faulty Standards, Policies or
Attitude Practices
8. Poor Maintenance
 STRESS
1. Avoid unnecessary stress:
• Learn to say NO
• Avoid people who stress you out.
• Take control of your environment.
• Avoid hot-button topics.
• Reduce your “to-do-list”
 STRESS
2. Alter the situation:
• Express yourself, do not bottle up.
• Be willing to compromise.
• Be more assertive, not aggressive.
• Manage your time better.
 STRESS
3. Adapt to the stressor
• Re-frame problems.
• Look at the bigger picture.
• Adjust your standards
• Focus on the positive
• Adjust your attitude.
 STRESS
4. Accept things you cannot change.
• Do not try to control the uncontrollable.
• Look for the upside (positives).
• Share your feelings.
• Learn to forgive.
 STRESS
5. Make time for fun and relaxation.
• Set aside relaxation time.
• Connect with others.
• Do something you enjoy everyday.
• Keep your sense of humour.
 STRESS
6. Adopt a healthy lifestyle.
• Exercise regularly.
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Reduce caffeine and sugar.
• Avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs.
• Get enough sleep.
 MISMANAGEMENT OF TIME
Poor time managers constantly complain of having “no
time”.
Some claim that their ‘commitments’ and ‘problems’
are more than those of others.
Reasons for this are:
• Escaping from facing oneself.
• Obsession to impress others by becoming a
‘workaholic’ thus being occupied all the time.
 MISMANAGEMENT OF TIME
• Lack of assertiveness.
• Living by others’ priorities.
• Trying to please all and ending up pleasing no one.
• Inability to plan, organize, control and review.
• Starting late.
• The situation is that confusion, clutter and conflict and
leads to drag, delay and deferment.
 MISMANAGEMENT OF TIME
The solution lies in:
• Healthy and frank analysis of yourself and the
work,
• Always start in good time,
• Weed out needless issues and focus only on
those that matter.
 INADEQUATE COMMUNICATIONS
Communications are extremely important to
avoid mishaps and accidents. There are
procedures and training available to better
communication skills in order to co-ordinate
within the ship and between ships.
Effective communication skills include better
interpersonal relationships, listening skills and
giving and taking feedback.
 LACK OF MOTIVATION AND POSITIVE
ATTITUDE.
People tend to lose their motivational level due to
long and routine working hours. They start to
miss their near and dear ones. Constant efforts
are required for maintaining a positive frame of
mind by being one’s own support system. People
tend to lose their focus thereby creating a high
risk of accidents.
 LACK OF TEAMWORK.
Sometimes co-ordination between people from
varied departments or one’s own department
becomes poor. This leads to misunderstandings
and situations where tasks and individuals are not
in alignment with the group objective.
Regular training and drills can improve teamwork.
Training drills should include personnel from all
departments to achieve best results.
 DECISIONS BASED ON INADEQUATE
INFORMATION
Mariners have to take navigational decisions
based on available data. Quite often one piece of
equipment is favored over others. This leads to
inadequate data being used for decision making.
Many casualties have been caused due to not
consulting all the available data.
FAULTY STANDARDS, POLICIES OR PRACTICES.
This includes lack of available, precise, written
and easily understood operational procedures on
board ships. This also includes management
policies which encourage risk-taking and lack of
consistent traffic rules from port to port.
If a well written manual is not immediately
available, a correct and timely response is much
less likely.
 POOR MAINTENANCE
Poor maintenance can lead to a dangerous working
environment, lack of working back-up systems and
crew fatigue due to emergency repairs.
Poor maintenance is also the leading cause of fires and
explosions.
The marine environment is an unforgiving one.
Currents, winds and restricted visibility make for
treacherous working conditions. We thus are prone to
greater casualty risks.