Human error analysis in dynamic positioning incidents according to the nature of the operations in progress

Abstract

Human errors are known to contribute to incidents in the maritime industry. Although the dynamic positioning operator has to undergo a standard training schedule before becoming a full operator, human errors contribute to 20% of the incidents in dynamic positioning operations. This research aims to investigate which dynamic positioning operations have a more considerable percentage of human errors. With a 266 dynamic positioning incidents database, different offshore operations are classified and then cross-tabulated with the human causes, classified as either primary or secondary cause as described in the incident report. The results and discussion present that drilling and diving operations are significantly correlated with human causes. This study's results could help provide better directions for the training schedule, proposing simulator exercises based on these scenarios.