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 Research
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Maritime Research, Technology, Demonstration, and Deployment
(RTDD)
Facilitating
Transportation Innovation
INNOVATION NEEDS:
Applying Advances in Human Factors and Risk
Assessment
System complexity and demands
for increased safety afloat and ashore require further application of human factors and
risk assessment sciences to reduce the probability of accidents and increase efficiency.
 Basic
technical and human processes of systems need to be modeled well in order to locate
accident scenarios, understand the causes of them, and determine control measures and
strategies. Effective management systems must be designed to ensure those controls
are put in place, maintained, and improved while enabling the high efficiency of
operations required in a competitive environment. |
Major R&D
Thrust Areas
- Incident Reporting
Liability concerns keep pilots and crew from reporting accidents and
near-misses. Data is needed to identify deficiencies and discrepancies in the
maritime system so that these can be remedied. The data can be used to support policy
formulation and planning for, and improvements to, the maritime system. It can also
strengthen the foundation of maritime human factors safety research. This is particularly
important since it is generally thought that over two-thirds of maritime accidents and
incidents have their roots in human performance errors.
- Crew Size and Composition
Decreased crew sizes and the systems used to schedule and
train crewmembers are complex. Personnel in U.S. crews are often trained in a similar
manner but many do not have opportunities to stay with one organization or company to
learn the "ins" and "outs" of operations. Companies in other countries
have been successful in recruiting diverse crews that have backgrounds in law,
engineering, and other disciplines, and focus their training to promote teaming efforts
and familiarity with all operations of a ship. Because U.S. crews are trained to deal with
situations in similar fashions, ship operation and design issues are not approached as
well or in such a multi-disciplinary fashion. This is a safety concern that needs to be
addressed immediately, as crew safety and vitality of the system on the global market are
at stake.
Other Supporting Developments and
Useful Background Information
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