Enclosed space risks – the delusion of measurement and control

Enclosed space fatalities have been haunting the maritime industry for many decades.

Let’s step back and ask what is the problem at hand?
Oxygen deficiency and presence of toxic gases within a few cubic meters of space? It shouldn’t be a big deal to get inside and come out alive, right?

And yet, the number of seafarers who have succumbed in confined spaces continues to surprise insurers, regulators, investigators and shipping companies.

Those who have died are not necessarily trainees or people with limited experience. It is often those who have served within the industry for years. Statistics should not be taken on face value but INTERCARGO, a reputed industry body, has revealed in a white paper that up to 66% of those who have died are senior officers on the ships. Only 6% are trainees.

Accident reports paint a confusing picture. In many instances, paperwork is signed off and risk assessments are completed. Where does it go wrong then?

Paperwork instils a false sense of confidence. ‘I can go ahead now that the checklist is signed off.’ But reality comes to bite the people precisely when they think that the risk has been managed and filed away. Mindless bureaucracy kills, not saves people when paperwork becomes a ritual of meaningless measurement and control.

There are several issues at stake but the one thing that concerns me is the unquestioned belief in measurement.

This is eloquently captured in a conversation with a ship manager.
Q. What is your biggest risk in enclosed space?
A. Unknown atmosphere.
Q. So how do you measure and control if it is ‘unknown’?
A. But that is why we do risk assessment.

Much of our understanding about risk assessment can be distilled to a single sentence. We cannot control the risk, but we must pretend as if we do.

Let me unpack this. The unpredictable Nature, a macho workforce, and cost pressures create a perfect blend for an ad hoc culture at sea. Seafarers take pride in getting shit done. And yet, 5000 miles away, sitting in Mumbai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Glasgow, Oslo, London and Rotterdam, ship managers continue to believe that it is the rules and procedures that are keeping the seafarers safe.

Bureaucratic tools, it is assumed, can be used to tame an ad hoc culture. That is where ship management is focused.

We are not talking about accountants and pen pushers. Most ship managers have worked as seafarers. What is so difficult for them to understand the seafarers?

The American organisational psychologist, Karl Weick, offers some pearls of wisdom. What is sensible (sense-able) for the ship managers? Weick sees in sensibility our ability to sense the world around us.

While it is convenient to say that ship managers should empathise with the seafarers, is it really sensible for them to go against their own culture built on measurement and control?

A few cubic meters of space reveal the culture of the industry.

We count because it can be counted, not because it really counts.