The International Maritime Human Factors Symposium (IMHFS) is an annual event that brings together academia, industry, and regulatory bodies to enhance maritime safety and operational efficiency. It emphasizes the crucial role of Human Factors in risk management and safety.
The symposium addresses the intricate relationship between human and organizational factors in maritime operations. It serves as a platform for sharing research, exchanging ideas, and establishing best practices to minimize maritime accidents.
Topics that will be covered in this year’s symposium include:
Safety Culture
This topic explores the collective safety attitudes and behaviours in maritime settings, aiming to establish a positive learning culture. By drawing insights from both successes and failures, it seeks to equip maritime professionals with the knowledge to improve safety. The focus is on fostering a proactive safety culture.
Risk and Human Reliability
This topic explores the systematic assessment of potential risks, incorporating Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) to understand and mitigate human errors. The aim is to offer a comprehensive framework for risk mitigation.
Well-being and Mental Health
This topic delves into the mental and physical health issues encountered by maritime professionals during operations. The focus is on enhancing the mental well-being of seafarers and other individuals involved in marine activities, while also providing effective strategies for managing stress.
Decarbonisation and Human Factors
This topic investigates the intersection of HFs and the maritime industry’s shift towards decarbonisation, particularly through the adoption of alternative fuels. It explores how system design considers the health and safety of maritime professionals, the impact of human behavior on the effectiveness of alternative fuel systems, and the readiness of today’s seafarers to handle future fuels.
Safety Learning and HF Taxonomies
The topic examines maritime accidents, incidents, near misses and operational reports to derive actionable insights by implementing human factors (HF) techniques to capture and classify HF data. The aim is to facilitate safety learning from similar occurrences and enhance safety analysis.
Human Factors in Design
This topic focuses on the integration of Human Factors into the engineering and design processes of maritime systems. The goal is to optimize user interfaces and operational workflows to reduce human error and enhance overall system reliability.
Autonomy, Automation, and Human Factors
This topic delves into the intricate relationship between human involvement and automated systems. It emphasizes the importance of user-centric designs in both autonomous and automated environments, exploring how human expertise can enhance and optimize these settings.
