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Human Factors for Naval Marine Vehicle Design and Operation

In 10 chapters and two appendices, the author describes human factors in naval marine vehicle design and operation. After some introductory material and a discussion of different classes of marine vehicles, the discussion turns to common human factors (HF) problems in ship design and operation. These include motion sickness, the sopite syndrome (a form of motion-induced drowsiness), fatigue, sleep loss, injury and human error. There then follow chapters dedicated to the human machine interface, human factors enhancement, design processes and future trends. Two appendices provide information on relevant organisations such as Lloyd’s Register and the American Bureau of Shipping and on standards. The book is aimed at designers and at HF professionals and is intended as an ‘overarching source’ of information to bridge the gap between the human and the machine. Bearing in mind that it does this in less than 200 pages, it seems that the book succeeds in many ways. Certainly, for human factors integration (HFI) managers with no training in ergonomics, it will provide a comprehensive introduction to what it is that they are supposed to be managing and what might constitute successful HFI. Further, for ergonomists with no experience of the marine world, the book contains a great deal of useful information about the pros and cons of different ship designs as well as brief introductions to some of the maritime-specific ergonomics research data that are not easy to find in the mainstream literature (e.g. the discussion of ‘tipping coefficients’ for postural stability prediction). The book is less successful in other respects, particularly in communicating mainstream ergonomics topics, such as workspace design using anthropometric data and user–interface design based on task analysis. The treatment is superficial with insufficient explanation of the problem to be solved and how to solve it. Similarly, the discussion of questionnaires is nothing more than a description of a small number of instruments used to measure a limited range of outcomes such as seasickness. Chapters 6, 7 and 8 deal with the mainstream ergonomics topics, but the order and manner in which these topics are discussed is confusing. For example, crew size and lighting are discussed in the chapter on ‘Human machine interface’, whereas task analysis is not discussed at all. Lighting is also discussed under ‘Human stressors’. In general, the book is more successful in dealing with HF in marine vehicle design than marine vehicle operation. Many important operational issues are only mentioned briefly or not mentioned at all. Examples are watch schedules, deployment length, psychosocial factors associated with isolation and topical human resource matters such as team effectiveness and the HF implications of an ageing workforce. Despite these limitations, there is only so much that one can do in 178 pages of main text and this book does succeed in providing a concise introduction to many of the key HF issues in naval marine vehicle design. Most of the guidance provided is well-chosen and much of the material is also relevant in the design of commercial shipping. All HFI managers working on ship design and procurement would benefit from reading this book. Ergonomists starting work for the first time in the maritime domain will benefit greatly.