Identifying the Potential Roles of Design-based Failures on Human Errors in Shipboard Operations

Despite the various developments in maritime society, human errors have been continued to be one of the primarily causes of marine accidents. The outcomes of detailed investigations on the root causes of human errors can provide valuable support on execution process of required precautions on board merchant ships. This paper examines the potential role of the design-based failures in shipboard systems on human errors during operational process. After completing the statistical research on maritime accidents, the paper concentrates on the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) and the model is supported with the illustrative cases related to the influences of design-based failures on human errors. Consequently, this study originally proposes integrated unit into the HFACS systematic to manage to identify design-based human errors in maritime casualties. The model is eagerly expected to provide additional contributions on identifying the influences of poor design and constructional failures on human errors.