1996 SSC Symposium

Human and Organizational Error in Marine Structures: A Quest for Quality in Design, Construction, and Maintenance NOVEMBER 18-20, 1996 Sheraton National Hotel, Arlington, VA    The papers presented at the 1996 SSC Symposium highlight some recent SSC research along with other topics that are of great interest to the SSC. An electronic copy of each paper can be searched similar, to the SSC reports, on the Search Reports page or by clicking on the paper title hyper-links on the 1996 SSC symposium Agenda page. The Inter-agency Ship Structure Committee celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The Committee's purpose is to "promote safety, economy, marine environmental protection, and education in the North American maritime industry through the advancement of marine structures technology." Much has been accomplished since its formation in July of 1946. Post WWII research efforts into the causes of failures of welded ship hulls by brittle fracture yielded many valuable long term designs and construction solutions. Important improvements were later made in the areas of metallurgy, geometry, materials compositions, and welding. Advanced production techniques and challenging new design types of the '60s and '70s required reappraisal of effects on structural strength. Unexpected fatigue failures in the '80s and heightened interest in pollution abatement spurred research efforts to focus on these problems. As fitting for a research activity, the technical program for this symposium does not dwell on past achievements but addressed one of the newest recognized causes of structural failure - the human element. Because the methodology to analyze human and organizational errors is new to most engineers in the marine community a tutorial is featured on the first day. The tutorial will introduce the basic science of human factors along with describing structures-related issues and highlighting the importance of properly applying human factors principles to the process of structural design, construction, and maintenance. The papers program features significant practical and insightful works that addressed human and organizational error in a manner useful in the quest for quality in design, construction, and maintenance of marine structures. The program looks at risk, safety management, and the critical causational role played by human and organizational errors. Theory, practical elements, techniques, approaches, and examples or case studies are to be found along with discussion on how to successfully implement these concepts. The technical program also featured a special workshop on production. Strong relationships exist between human factors, safety, and productivity. The workshop focused on these relationships in light of the other papers and presentations at the symposium. The banquet provided an opportunity to reflect on the past achievements of the Ship Structure Committee and look to the future. Honored guests were recognized and a historical review was presented on research accomplishments. This symposium, the eighth in a triennial series, was cosponsored by the Ship Structure Committee (SSC) and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME). The symposium brought together members of the international marine industry including ship owners, operators, builders, researchers, human factors experts and representatives of the government and classification society bodies to discuss the effect of human and organizational impacts on marine structures. Sincerely, Alexander C. Landsburg and CAPT George F. Wright Symposium Co-chairmen