A Content Analysis of Human Factors in Ships Design

Abstract

Research shows that more than 80% of accidents at sea were caused by human related factors. Some experts implied that less than adequate design is one significant element that may lead to human errors. There are several ways to discover whether a design has considered human factors, i.e., to refer to the design specification, to consult the designers, to conduct a direct observation through a site visit or through a model, to interview the users, or to look into the system that regulates the design. This paper applied a content analysis methodology to explore how human factors have been covered in the design of marine systems. Various documents such as rules, regulations, design guidelines, standards and other texts have been analysed. The results indicate that there are extensive references that cover human factors in designing ships. They are published with different degrees of enforcement, some are prescriptive and some are obligatory but still optional. The topic is developing very rapidly. A more assertive measure is required from the regulators to endorse human factors into implementation.