Putting naval architects in the vanguard of violation prevention

RINA's Human Factors conference, held in September last year, spelt out man y initiatives being taken to include these aspects into the design and oper ation of marine assets. However, Geoff Fuller, FRINA, believes that one mat ter, only partly addressed, was the role of 'human errors' in maritime acci dents, perhaps more correctly called 'violations'. From this comes the ques tion of adding human factors and 'violation' prevention throughout the life -cycle of a product by instilling a safety culture into the psyche of the c ontrolling naval architect. This must start with a proper understanding of the product and its environment, and end with the education, and continuing professional development, of all grades of naval architect.