My bad? Don't jump to conclusions

摘要

Have you made a mistake today? Did you think to yourself, 'That was my fault, I made an error'...? Perhaps you kept pressing the wrong button on an instrument, or you struggled with a certain checklist or procedure? Do you inwardly curse at the screen when you cannot find the information you need? All these situations are symptoms of something far greater. Granted, humans make mistakes; we already know that. We have known it for a long time - and we are still using terms like 'human error' and trying to train seafarers to stop doing it.Do you think it has worked? Is it time for a new perspective and a new approach?Why do we simply accept bad design and dysfunctional procedures that make it easy to make mistakes? One answer is 'professional pride'. Most seafarers are problem solvers at heart and revel in getting things to work, perhaps by designing solutions or workarounds. Another answer is that there seems to be no one to tell. Or if there is someone, they don't listen.