HUMAN FACTORS IN SHIP DESIGN; IMPLICATIONS FOR SHIP REPAIR SHIPBUILDING WORKERS

摘要

Ship Repair and Ship Building is an industry where a significant number of serious accidents, fatalities as well as occupational diseases are reported in around the world. So, it is important to understand the root causes for these accidents, occupational illnesses and diseases because Human Capital is the most valuable asset in any industry. According to researchers, 80% of industrial accidents are due to the Human Factor (HF). So, the aim of this paper is to discuss to what extent this HF has been taken into consideration in design stage of ships with respect to its construction and repair and how it impacts the employees in Ship Repair and Ship Building. For this study, the researcher has selected some case studies pertaining to shipyard accidents and near misses reported in Sri Lanka during the 15 years period from year 2000 to 2015 along with previous findings of researchers to illustrate how the design implications affected those shipyard accidents and possible countermeasures to prevent recurrence.