Many accidents at sea could be avoided by paying more attention to the human factor aspects, highlights senior specialist and master Carl Thue Rabjerg from FORCE Technology. Together with other specialists on accident investigation he has developed a four-day course focusing on human factors as the core element in the investigation process.
"Know the cause of the accident and become better at avoiding it in the future". Easier said than done. Now, FORCE Technology's course on investigation of accidents at sea helps to better identifying key factors in the accident causation process, thus providing better tools to prevent reoccurrence.
New knowledge of safety
"The course has been very interesting and relevant for my work. The first part of the course was mostly teacher-controlled instruction but it never became monotonous. The second part of the course involved participation in terms of group work, scenarios for discussion and the analysis of realistic relevant cases. Everything was presented in a nice informal manner", says SQE coordinator Søren Andersen from the company Clipper Marine Services, who has attended the course at FORCE Technology together with other colleagues.
He also remarks: "I feel better equipped to assess the accidents in a broader perspective and I have acquired a number of valuable tools to gather relevant information from the accident site. I have subsequently been in work situations where I have used material from the course, for example interview technique when talking to chief engineers and captains and when preparing better instructions. I strongly recommend this course, which with no doubt contributes to increasing safety and preventing accidents.
|
|
|
During the course participants obtain a thorough knowledge on how to collect information and analyse data. |
Thorough understanding
The reason why we particularly focus on the human factor aspects while conducting accident investigations is because a great number of accident related events cannot be adequately explained as a concatenation of technical or human errors only. It is mandatory to get a deeper view, which will better support realistic explanations leading to real causes. In this connection, the human factors play a significant role in the explanation of not only how but most importantly why accidents happen.
"We have developed a practical course for people who become engaged in accident investigations and safety at sea. We especially emphasize the impact of the human factors on accidents. During the course participants obtain a thorough knowledge on how to collect information and analyse data”, explains Carl Thue Rabjerg from FORCE Technology. All courses are run by instructors with a consolidated maritime background and a well-founded expertise in the area of accident investigations at sea.
