The Human Element: A Guide to Human Behaviour in the Shipping Industry - SKULD Edition

Author: SKULD Assuranceforening
Publisher: Witherby-Seamanship
ISBN: 9781856095389
Edition: 2012

This Guide explains fundamental aspects of human behaviour, which together constitute what the commercial maritime sector calls ‘the human element’. It makes clear that the human element is neither peripheral nor optional in the pursuit of a profitable and safe shipping industry. On the contrary, the capabilities and vulnerabilities of human beings are – and always will be – at the centre of the enterprise.

The Guide is aimed at masters and crews, owners and managers, designers and buyers and regulators and investigators.

The Guide clearly shows that managing the human element must take place simultaneously at all levels of the industry – from within the engine rooms and decks of the smallest cargo ships to the conventions of the regulation makers and the boardrooms of the business strategists. It is the policies and strategies that shape and constrain the space in which ships and their crews operate.

The Guide offers insight, explanation and advice to help manage the human element more effectively.

Analysis of shipping disasters in recent years has produced an increasing awareness of the central importance of the human element. The loss of life, the impact on company profits and credibility, and the vast environmental damage that can result from the loss of a vessel remain clear and present dangers.

Several recent initiatives have documented aspects of the human element, most notably ALERT!, a series of publications by Lloyds Register and the Nautical Institute. These are excellent resources that have been very successful in raising awareness about the importance of the human element. Because of these materials it is now widely understood that human issues are involved in almost all marine incidents. At the same time, the frequency of marine incidents continues unabated. It is not enough, it seems, to simply know that human issues are important.

It is now vital to make a clear connection between these human issues and the business success of those who make their living from the shipping industry – whether on ship or ashore. Specifically, everyone involved needs to understand that they, themselves, are the human element. Their continued business success depends on how far they are able to manage their own behaviour along with the behaviour of those around them.

This Guide was developed to help them do just that.