Engine Room Resource Management

Off the coast of Port Said, a 397 meter vessel laden with roughly 14,000 containers was approaching the Suez Canal. Everything was going according to plan until suddenly sea water started flooding in through the shaft tunnel. The chief engineer stated the ballast ejectors and main bilge pump. Within 10 minutes, the water had filled the entire shaft tunnel. The engineers retreated to the engine room sealing the water tight door behind them. The situation became desperate soon after as several cable penetrations gave way in the shaft bulkhead opening the engine room to massive flooding. The Chief Engineer kept close communication with the bridge warning the Master of the high likelihood of total power loss. Prioritizing the safety of his team, he evacuated personnel from the engine room as the water continued to rise. With tug assistance, the vessel made it to berth five hours later. The engine room flooded with 14,000 cubic meters of sea water and all engine room equipment was completely disabled. The crew was able to contain a critical situation saving the vessel from what could have been a complete disaster had they not been following the principles of Engine Room Resource Management. Engine Resource Management, we can look at it this way. Machinery and equipment comes with operating guidelines and procedures. Humans, of course, don't. Machinery will have set parameters and alarms to tell you when something is going wrong or may be going wrong. But again, humans don't. Although we also have limits. Putting man and machine together as the resources means each has to be managed properly. Engine Room Resource Management, or ERM, is an approach to achieve safe engineering operations by managing the resources of personnel, equipment, and information in the machinery space. In some cases, good ERM could help save the ship. In this video you'll learn Resource Management, Effective Communication, Cultural Awareness, Assertiveness and Leadership, Motivation, and Situational Awareness. We're talking about resources whether on the bridge or in the engine room. This could be bridge equipment or it could be machinery. The key resources, of course, humans, and how we work together interacting with each other without machinery or equipment. Resource allocation, or resource management, is the scheduling of activities and resources while taking into consideration both the resource availability and the time required to complete tasks. In the engine room, some of the resources available include engineers, ratings, machinery, automation, and alarms. Resources to be managed typically fall into one of three categories: Crew Management, Plant and Equipment Management, and Information Management. Crew Management is how the crew is utilized to safely operate the vessel during normal operations as well as during maintenance activities, abnormal operating conditions and emergencies. Engine rooms may be classified as an unmanned machinery space, UMS, Periodically Unattended Machinery Space or traditional manning. It is the Chief Engineer's responsibility to appropriately manage the workforce to safely support the needs of the vessel. This includes appropriately staffed and trained watches. No one should be assigned duties or watch until they have been appropriately trained. Managed work and rest periods. Fatigue in the workplace needs to be managed beyond just compliant with rules and regulations. Consideration should be given to work conditions and effectiveness of rest. Duty engineers need to be provided with ample rest periods to compensate for alarms and after hour call outs. Commercial pressure should not influence the workforce to complete tasks under adverse conditions. Drills and training should be conducted regularly in addition to the required fire and boat drills, including training on equipment operation, casualty,and emergency response procedures. We can say that traditionally engineers have a sense of what's happening inside machinery, much like when your car makes unusual noises. It triggers an internal alarm if you like because you feel something is wrong. Even if an alarm doesn't sound, you still check you or you feel that there's a need to check. Management of Plant and Equipment refers to operating and maintaining the equipment using sound engineering practices. Resources should be prioritized so that higher priority tasks can be completed in a safe and timely fashion. Monitoring and operating of the equipment, including periodically conducting rounds while observing temperatures, pressures, sounds, and any abnormal operating conditions. Sim ops, or simultaneous operations, refers to operations that may occur simultaneously. For example, one task alone may be adequately managed but multiple tasks occurring at the same time may prove to be too high of a risk to attempt. Prior to performing a task, a risk analysis should be conducted to determine whether or not the task should be completed at that particular time. For example, taking a piece of equipment out of service during maneuvering may not be prudent, or conducting certain maintenance activities at sea where conditions may be too risky for personnel or equipment. Information Management refers to information gathering from external sources. External sources can be equipment, the bridge, shore side management, and other members of the engineering team. Machinery and equipment provides information related to its operation including sounds, temperatures, pressures, flows, and sights. The bridge and engine teams share operational and other pertinent information that could influence the management of the vessel's equipment or utilization of resources. Confined space entry, hot work, oil transfers as well as other operations, should be communicated. Foster a culture of reporting near misses and accidents. Lessons can be learned and potential future accidents averted by communicating and addressing the causes, of near misses and accidents. Well, Effective Communication means passing a message actually receiving a message, but more importantly, understanding the information. Communication is the exchange of information, thoughts, and feelings and is a core skill essential to effective and safe performance in the engine room. It affects team situational awareness, teamwork, and decision making. Effective communication is not only how you convey a message so that it is received and understood, it's also how you listen to gain the full meaning of what's being said. One technique for avoiding misunderstanding is Closed Loop Communication. When the sender gives a message, the receiver repeats this back. The sender then confirms the message. When the receiver incorrectly repeats the message back, the sender will say negative and then repeat the correct message. If the sender does not get a reply back, he must repeat it until the receiver starts closing the loop. Communication in the engine room is slightly more difficult, as, of course, it's noisy. Visual communication becomes more important but must be agreed beforehand, regards different methods, signals that are going to be used. Something important needs to be taken out of the engine room maybe to the control room where it can be heard and understood. Effective communication on a vessel, particularly within the engine room, is diminished by the sender and receiver being removed from each other making clear and concise communications that much more important. Unnecessary radio chatter can be a distractor to effective communication. Keep chatter to a minimum. Watch keepers should notify the chief engineer officer or duty officer without any hesitation when in any doubt of operational safety. If you are debating, "Should I tell the chief engineer?" it is time to call him or her. Always bear in mind that the chief engineer would rather be called a number of times unnecessarily than being called too late once. If a watch keeper would have any doubt about safe operations, particularly in the machinery space, they should stop the operation immediately. Have an understanding amongst the team that if somebody perceives something is going wrong, then stop the process. Evaluate the situation before proceeding. It may be totally innocent or there could actually be something going wrong. Many ships sail with multinational crews. Effective resource management requires the understanding and respect for the different cultures of engine room members. Be sensitive to cultural differences and similarities. While many languages may be spoken aboard the vessel, be sure to use only the official vessel language when on duty. Cultural differences also extend beyond language to religious preference, nutrition choices, and popular entertainment. Learn about your shipmates and their communication styles so that you can work more effectively as a team. Assertiveness means being able to state your opinion while still being respectful of others. It is something that you develop and strengthen over time. Many juniors are concerned that if they assert themselves their seniors will think of their behavior as aggressive. But there is a difference between being assertive and aggressive. Assertive people state their opinions while still being respectful of others. Passive people don't state their opinions at all. An example of assertiveness could be a junior officer warning against maintenance planned by the Chief Engineer due to unsafe sea state or high risk potential. From a leadership perspective, Chief Engineers must issue standing orders that clearly state their expectations from staff and advocate the use of defined procedures and checklists. The standing orders should also provide guidance on when the Chief Engineer should be notified. Motivating your team, whatever you do needs to be relevant. People need to know why they're doing something to see the bigger picture, to understand it's importance. Showing respect to team members and acknowledging their importance in successful organizations goes a long way. An effective leader must have thorough knowledge of motivational factors for others. He must understand the basic needs of employees, peers, and his superiors. Individuals should understand how their work and actions support the business goals and how adverse actions can negatively affect the company. Appreciation and rewards are key motivators. Rewarding good or exceptional behavior with a small token of appreciation, certificate, or letter can be a great motivator. Being a role model is also a key motivator that influences people in reaching their goals. A leader should set a good example to ensure his people grow and achieve their goals. Encouraging individuals to get involved in planning and important issues not only motivates them but also teaches the intricacies of key decision making. A meaningful and challenging job accomplished instills a sense of achievement among employees. An engineering officer must adopt a flexible leadership style in order to motivate the crew and get the job done. Well, we can break Situational Awareness down into three areas. We have perception which is actually what's happening at the time, comprehension which is understanding exactly what's going on, and then projection, looking at what might happen in the future. Putting those three things together will maintain your situational awareness. Good situational awareness can reduce the potential for human error. This information empowers crew to intervene by taking preemptive corrective action to avoid or moderate the severity of incidents. Use your senses to build a mental picture of your environment using vision, hearing, and touch to scan your surroundings. Then direct your attention to the most important and relevant aspect of your surroundings, and compare this experience with knowledge built up in your memory. By matching observations with knowledge and experience, you develop an accurate mental picture of your environment. Keep the mental picture up to date with inputs from the wide range of real world information available to you. Understanding allows you to think ahead and project into the future environment. This step is crucial in the decision making process and requires that your understanding, based on gathered data, is as accurate as possible. For example, consider potential consequences of casualties and emergencies, including responses to various scenarios. Procedures and checklists, when combined with good situational awareness, will assist the engine room team to assess the current and anticipated future situation of the vessel. Engine room resource management ensures that the team uses the experience, talent, and skill of each member fully in order to maximize resources for an effective operation. In this video we learned utilizing Resource Management ensures that watches are properly staffed with able crew members. Fostering a culture of effective communication can encourage crew to speak up before something goes wrong. Cultural awareness will make a stronger team. Strong leadership and assertiveness means stating your opinion while still being respectful. Motivating crew members could be as easy as complimenting a job well done. And strong situation awareness can help you identify problems before they become emergencies. Training an ERM should be a continual process. Working as an effective team doesn't typically come without practice. ERMs should be a topic of discussion during scheduled meetings and training sessions building upon the principles outlined in this video.