Page 39: of Marine News Magazine (July 2011)

Mate unlimited license. An underlying premise of Bridge Resource Management (BRM) is that mariners are fallible in ways that are unrelated to technical ability. Furthermore, even people of great experience are vulnerable to human error in predictable ways. Study after study has confirmed that between 75% and 90% of maritime accidentsare caused in part or entirely by human factors, making BRM centralto any effort to improve human per- formance on the water. More and bet- ter equipment is always in thepipeline, but it is clear that technolo-gy is not the whole answer. BRM is not the whole answer either, but just as we cannot expect people to be competent navigators if they have never been shown how to navigate, we cannot expect people to be alert to the patterns of human error if no effort has been made to explain them. This is where BRM comes in. Of course, the best training in the worldis worthless if it is not applied. SMALLSHIPBRMThe mission of Bridge Resource Management for Small Ships,? is to present BRM principles in the con- text of small ships, boats, or vessels. BRM on smaller vessels has a differ- ent look and feel from deep sea mer- chant ships and other types of vessels. This becomes evident as we explore the meanings of the bridge, theresources, and the management of them. Technically speaking, a small vessel is under 1,600 gross tons/3,000 international tons, sometimesreferred to as limited-tonnage vessels. Regulatory cutoffs based on vessel size are notoriously awkward, making small ships an imperfect term. Accuracy suffers from generalities, but sometimes we have to tolerate a few. The main point is to re-examine the well-established components of BRM using case studies, terminology, regulatory and operating realities that come from the limited tonnage world. THEBRIDGEBRM is traditionally focused onmaintaining ironclad navigational control, with an emphasis on busy or confined waters. The basic idea is that a vessel should never be anywhere it www.marinelink.com MN39New Orleans(504) 780-8100 ? Fax (504) 780-8200 Norfolk(757) 545-0100 ? Fax (757) 545-8004 Houston(281) 452-5887 ? Fax (281) 452-9682 www.mcdonoughmarine.comwww.mcdonoughmarine.comLARGEST RENTAL FLEET OF SPUD, DECK AND MATERIAL BARGESLARGEST RENTAL FLEET OF SPUD, DECK AND MATERIAL BARGESBARGES 60 TO 400 LENGTHBARGES 60 TO 400 LENGTH? 16 Fleeting locations inland rivers, Gulf, East and West Coast ? Inland and Ocean towing services MARKET