In this section, we examine the chapter “Learning and Developing” from the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s guide “The Human Element – A Guide to Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry” and we break down the most relevant information. It helps to understand how and why human accidents and errors occur and why they are still the leading cause of disasters in the shipping and offshore industry.

UK MCA: Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry – Learning and Developing

Learning cannot be avoided; in fact we do it all the time and you are doing it right now. It is a survival mechanism of all mammals, but the safety-critical question for the maritime business is not whether the crew is learning but whether they are learning the right things.

Learning generally does not happen by transferring knowledge into the head of someone e.g. with help of a teacher – instead, learning is exclusively an action performed by the individual. Therefore, the greatest efficiency is achieved when the individual:

• Sees the use of learning something
• Or is motivated by advancement as a possible result of learning
• Or is intrinsically interested in the subject
• And when the process is constructed as a series of small steps towards completion of the learning task or by using analogies to explain new knowledge by comparing it to existing knowledge.

The learning environment is used to determine a partition, as learning can take place either formally or informally. An example of informal learning is talking to colleagues, copying their behavior and learning the shortcuts from them; a training setup and taking instruction from to a teacher represents formal learning.

The informal way may seem effortless but it is uncontrolled; the management cannot monitor the learning to ensure that the instruction is correct. For example, it might be that informal learned shortcuts will eventually lead to an accident or loss. Because people will always learn in informal ways, the amount of guidance given determines the business culture and success.

Despite the enormous costs of good quality training and education, learning does provide the company with benefits.

• Higher productivity
• Avoidance of loss, accidents and damages
• Less staffing problems
• Internalizing of a positive culture by receiving organizational attention

The UK’s “Investors In People” has determined that many of these benefits become enhanced because employees internalize, considering the efficiency of their actions and showing greater engagement.

How to Train your Employees

For a “best practice” approach, companies need to master three organizational activities: training needs analysis, training design and deployment, and evaluation.

“Training needs analysis” consists of three core phases:

• Identifying tasks for which to train workers, describing the desired standards and outcomes, and rating them in terms of importance
• Gap identification and determining of objectives in order to close skill, attitude or knowledge gaps
• Identify the most cost efficient training option

After identifying the training objectives and deciding on a mix of methods, the training setup is designed. The “training design and deployment” phase consists of five points:

• Engaging learners (see the initial four bullet points above)
• Knowledge training with sequencing materials that teach concepts and their relationship
• Skill training focusing on performance, then putting it into practice and fine-tuning it
• Training feedback
• Avoiding skill fade over time

To evaluate the training the learners should be questioned about their personal satisfaction with their trainers, the training setup and the materials used. The organization should place great importance on evaluating the impact of the training on performance and outcomes. Good quality recurring training has a long lasting positive effect on the organization and on job performance, which should be measured.

Ask yourself, which steps are your organization already using and what additional steps would make sense?

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