Understanding Bridge Resource Management And Its Key Elements On Board Ships

Guidelines

There is a very well known saying, to err is human. It means it is natural to make mistakes. We are all
humans, and we all make mistakes. Human error is ubiquitous and inevitable. With time these
mistakes can lead to major catastrophes. However if caught in time, it can help us to learn a lesson.

Since the early years of shipping safety has been a constant concern. Maritime technology has
dramatically changed the resources available to mariners. Sophisticated equipment and other
automations provide new source of information and assistance. Marine officers must develop new
skills to utilise these new technologies effectively.

deck bridge pilot

Bridge resource management or BRM was adopted in the early 1990s by the maritime industry as a
safety and error management tool and has now become an integral part of crew’s training. BRM
makes use of all available resources including equipment and information and human resources to
achieve safe operation. BRM plays an important role in environments where human error can have
devastating effects. It has proven to be an important tool for improving safety in the maritime
industry and thus prevent the recurrence of incidents. It can thus help to support a safer and more
efficient execution of operations by blending technical skills and human skills.

BRM can be termed as the effective management and utilisation of all resources, human and
technical, available to the bridge team, to ensure the safe completion of the vessel’s voyage.

Critical Elements Of BRM

Bridge resource management includes some critical elements without which it cannot achieve its
ultimate goal. Some of them are listed below:

Communication: The first cluster of BRM skills includes those related to effective communication.
Good communication between the crew members is the key to successful BRM. The effective
transfer of information is a complex process. It requires information be conveyed when needed,
understood and acknowledged by the receiver and clarified if needed. In many cases it has been
seen that the information needed always existed but it was not made available to those who needed
it at the right time. The message was either not received or misunderstood. Another common cause
of major incidents was inaccurate, incomplete, ambiguous or garbled messages. It is important for
crew members to acknowledge and repeat orders to ensure that they are well understood.
Continuous interaction between humans and equipment leads to the vessel being navigated in a safe
and efficient manner. It is the duty of all officers and crew members to cross check and cross
question. Only then effective communication can be achieved. It is also important to maintain a
common language on board the vessel so that communication can become easier and quicker.

Teamwork: BRM focuses on team building and team work. Working in a team helps to address
challenges together faced by crew members on a daily basis. A team approach ensures that all crew
members are involved in problem solving and are not just mere spectators. We should borne in mind
the famous proverb by Henry Ford, ‘Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and
working together is success. Team discussions are essential for learning and refining BRM. A good
team should anticipate dangerous situations and recognise the development of an error chain. On
the bridge the watch officer and lookout personnel should work as a team to ensure safe navigation.
Safe and effective navigation is not one man’s job as there are many aspects to be looked into. It is
important that the bridge team share a common view of the intended passage. If in any doubt the
lookout personnel should speak up. Every individual can contribute in his/her best possible way and
come up with better ideas when working as a team.