CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT HUMAN FACTORS IN RISK ANALYSIS FOR SHIPS WITH ALARM SYSTEM

In complex systems, such as vessels and commercial ships, the ability to understand and influence human behavior is essential to ensure safety and reliability. According to statistics of classification societies (Rothblum, 2000; ALERT!, 2003), humans are largely responsible for accidents on board and, therefore, are considered a major component of the dependability of vessels. This paper presents a proposal on how to address the human and organizational factors in risk analysis for ships, focusing on the scenarios where the crew interacts with the alarm and monitoring system. In order to illustrate the steps and assumptions to be done by an analyst applying the proposed model, the accident of the vessel Maersk Doha occurred in October of 2006 in the United States, is analyzed. The report on the investigation of this accident is public and accessible via the Internet site of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch - MAIB. This approach has the intention to be a proactive tool to anticipate and prevent accidents on board by means of the correct design and use of the ship's alarm system.