[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3288-3289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-946]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard
[CGD 95-003]


Prevention Through People

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the establishment of a task group 
formed by the Chief, Office of Marine Safety, Security and 
Environmental Protection, to assess how to improve safety and pollution 
prevention through improvements in areas where people are the major 
factor in accidents. The task group's purpose will be to develop a 
long-term strategy for the Coast Guard ``Prevention Through People'' 
program which stresses solutions outside the regulatory process.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to CDR Craig Bone, Commandant (G-MS), 
U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 
20593-0001, or may be made by telephone at (202) 267-6827, or by fax at 
(202) 267-4547.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
CDR Craig Bone, Commandant (G-MS), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 
Second Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001, telephone (202) 267-6827.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    The Coast Guard invites suggestions and recommendations giving 
insight on where processes or people-issues have a potential for 
improved safety or efficiencies, either because of changes by the Coast 
Guard or by industry. Interested persons submitting comments should 
submit them to the Coast Guard where indicated under ADDRESSES.

Background and Purpose

    The analyses of marine casualties which have occurred over the past 
30 years have prompted the safety regime of the international maritime 
community to evolve from one based primarily upon technical 
requirements, to one which recognizes the importance of the human 
element in the system. This analyses indicates that 65 to 80 percent of 
casualties are caused by people. The maritime safety and pollution 
prevention programs have spent the majority of available resources 
addressing design requirements and technical ``fixes'' to eliminate the 
``human element'' or to provide redundancy and alarms which can 
actually result in the need for increased technical skills of the 
operating personnel. These initiatives have been mostly successful but, 
human factors and people issues still dominate casualty cases. 
Consequently, it is necessary to better address the root causes of 
safety and pollution problems and to address them properly with 
adequate resources.
    Historically, the international maritime community has approached 
maritime safety from a predominantly technical perspective. The 
conventional wisdom was to apply engineering and technological 
solutions to promote safety and minimize the consequences of marine 
casualties. Accordingly, international standards have addressed 
equipment requirements such as the type and amount of lifesaving and 
firefighting apparatus required on board. Design requirements such as 
protectively located segregated ballast tanks, double hulls, and 
improved steering gear standards have been adopted to make the 
operation of tankers safer and to minimize the extent of pollution in 
the event of a casualty. Innovations in structural fire protection 
engineering have significantly improved the fire safety of today's 
modern cruise vessels. State-of-the-art electronics have had a profound 
effect on the accuracy of navigation. Finally, advances in materials 
and computer assisted construction techniques have improved quality and 
reliability throughout the industry.
    Despite these engineering and technological innovations, 
significant marine casualties continue to occur. To further reduce 
casualties, the role of ``human error'' in the maritime safety equation 
has been evaluated. The term ``human error'' may be broadly defined as 
the acts or omissions of personnel which adversely affect the proper 
functioning of a particular system, or the successful performance of a 
particular task. As indicated, recent studies have suggested that in 
excess of 80 percent of all high-consequence marine casualties may be 
directly or indirectly attributable to ``human error.'' The term 
``human factors'' may be defined as the study and analysis of the 
design of the equipment, and the interaction of the equipment and the 
human operator, and most importantly, the procedures the crew and 
management follow. The purpose of studying human factors is to identify 
how the crew, the owner, operator, the classification societies, and 
the regulatory bodies can each work to sever the chain of errors which 
are associated with every marine casualty.
    Consequently, the international maritime community has started to 
emphasize participatory shipboard management. As noted by the 
International Chamber of Shipping and the International Shipping 
Federation,

    [T]he task facing all shipping companies is to minimize the 
scope for human decisions to contribute, directly or indirectly, to 
a casualty or pollution incident. Decisions made ashore can be as 
important as those made at sea, and there is a need to ensure that 
every action affecting safety or the prevention of pollution, taken 
at any level within the company, is based upon sound understanding 
of its consequences.

    There is a clear need to critically address people-issues. The 
issues must be addressed, not only from the traditional man and machine 
interface and ergonomics aspects, but must also include an assessment 
of entire processes including navigating the vessel, cargo loading and 
unloading, and responding to emergencies.
    The Coast Guard study team will consult with industry, including 
vessel operators and crew as well as cargo transfer operators, to 
obtain insight on where processes or people-issues have a potential for 
improved safety or efficiencies, either because of changes by the Coast 
Guard or by industry. Small study groups may be formed, if appropriate, 
and public meetings may be held to get input from a broad interest 
base. If the Coast Guard decides to hold a public meeting, the date and 
time will be announced by a later notice in the Federal Register.

    Dated: January 5, 1995.
J.C. Card,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard Chief, Office of Marine Safety, Security 
and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 95-946 Filed 1-12-95; 8:45 am]
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