The latest edition of the maritime human element bulletin Alert! focuses on education and training. It begins with a sad tale of a tragedy in an enclosed space, with a rating realising his mistake before lapsing into unconsciousness, but not in time to avoid making the fatal error in the first place. Could training have saved lives here? The fact that this scenario is repeated far too often onboard ships today is a terrible indictment on this apparent blind spot.
In an effort to help in efforts towards making training more effective this edition of Alert! gathers together some of the related information on education and training produced in earlier bulletins and provides a useful A-Z chart on training and education.
Readers are reminded that they are the human element as they read a review of the new Human Element DVD, which is already being employed as a training aid by a major oil company fleet. A range of important safety lessons is to be found in another sorry story, this time of a series of errors which led to the grounding of a large ship.
Readers will also learn about a ferry company’s SailSafe programme which is designed to change the company’s whole safety culture. Plenty of good ideas here, along with an important element in a reporting system that will encourage everyone to report incidents or near misses without fear of blame, on the important grounds that they will serve as a vital learning experience.
Readers are also asked if their company has an inclusive and rewarding working environment; a tanker manager shows how this has been recognised by the Investors in People scheme.
The importance of a trainee induction process, with so many safety implications, is also featured, with some golden rules that can be used to test processes. Might the tragedy which introduces this issue of Alert! have been averted by a proper induction process which is an essential adjunct to any on-board training programme, and part of the essential drill when joining a ship?
Source: Nautical Insitute