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April 2012www.sname.org/sname/mt causes might explain why some incidents occur as a result of the individual fail- ing to take the most basic precautions. The conclusion is that if an individual does not perceive a risk to be signicant, whether or not the historical data shows it to be otherwise, then he or she will behave accordingly. At the same time, ship designers and managers are puzzled about why individuals do such strange things. e importance of this apparent imbal- ance between the actual risk prole of marine operations and the perception of the risks by the individuals who are tasked with conduct- ing those operations is that it should have a profound a ect on the design of ships for use by a crew of average competence to carry out the reasonably foreseeable functions. The impact of this imbalance is possibly greater in the marine industry than in other sectors because of the reliance on human opera- tors both for controlling the hazards and for active engagement in mitigating the conse- quence of any hazardous event. For example, it is quite possible to incorporate some form of automatic control to ensure that a propul- sion system is not operated at a critical speed that might result in damage due to torsional vibration. But there remains a preference for protection to take the form of notices on con- trol stations, which require adherence from the operators. The preference within the industry to adopt simple and cheap risk con- trol options, often involving warning notices or administrative procedures?which are less e ective than an engineered solution? results in a vulnerability, which is often not recognized. If the human operator does not recognize the risk as suciently important to attract his or her attention, then in all proba- bility an avoidable incident will result. Distractions and technology e image of a watchkeeper sitting in a com- fortable bridge chair engrossed in a novel while his ship steams serenely on seems improbable. However, in the modern world, everyone is faced with many electronic devices that are highly portable and which o er fast personal connectivity. It has been reported that when the Blackberry service went down for a period in October 2011, the rate of road accidents in Dubai dropped by a staggering 20%. There have been cases reported where the distraction of watch- keepers played signicant roles in serious marine incidents, particularly where the watch was being kept by a single watch- keeper. e grounding of the container ship Bunga Teratai Satu on the Great Barrier Reef and the collision in the Delaware River between the tugboat/barge combination, Caribbean Sea/e Resource, and DUKW 34 provide vivid examples of incidents that fol- low from the distraction of watchkeepers. e list is growing and now includes groundings TABLE 2. PERCEPTION OF PERSONAL INJURY, RANKED IN DESCENDING ORDER Company dataset rankingPerception Manual handling Entry into enclosed spaces Use of ladders and gangways Work in con?ned spaces Engine maintenance at sea Manual handlingOperating hatches Welding and cutting Use of power tools Use of power tools Rigging of gangways Operating hatches Work in con?ned spaces Use of laddes and gangways Welding and cutting Rigging of gangways Entry into enclosed spaces Use of ladders and gangways SOURCE: SEAFARERS INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CENTRE, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY TABLE 1. PERCEPTION OF RISK, RANKED IN DESCENDING ORDER Accident database ranking Perception of shore based managers Perception of onboard senior ocers Perception of onboard junior ocers Perception of onboard ratings Collision ContactContactFireFire Grounding GroundingFireContactContact Contact CollisionCollisionGroundingCollision Sinking FireGroundingCollisionGrounding Fire SinkingExplosionExplosionExplosion Explosion ExplosionSinkingSinkingExplosion SOURCE: SEAFARERS INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CENTRE, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY