Psychological Criteria and Mechanisms of Seafarers’ Professional Reliability

Psychological Criteria and Mechanisms of Seafarers’ Professional Reliability

Psychological criteria of professional reliability.

Вопрос 1. Психологические критерии профессио-нальной надежности моряков. Ошибки оператора и их последствия. Этапы психологического обес-печения надежности.

  Reliability of Professional Activity (надежность профессиональной деятельности) is a faultless performance by the person of his professional duties within the demanded time and under the set conditions of activity.

 

Consequences of Automation

The price of human mistakes especially began to be realised with the introduction of sophisticated automation designed to increase efficiency, but increase of efficiency usually means a corresponding decrease in thoroughness ([ʹθʌrənıs] - тщательность, скрупулёзность). 

The introduction of automation leads reduced manning   ( сокращенный состав экипажа ) closely connected with to heavy workloads and fatigue ( рабочие нагрузки и усталость ).  E.g. the m/t Exxon Valdeze accident.

Sometimes wrong or untimely actions of the operator can result in not only economic but in human losses ( человеческие потери ) as well.

 

Reliability & Human Mentality

Professional reliability, in general, is a result of not only professional competence ([ʹkɒmpıt(ə)ns ] - компетентность ) (i.e. certain knowledge and skills required for performance, but also reliable functioning of a human organism and mentality (надежное функционирование человеческого организма и психики).

Thus the problem of reliability of professional activity is directly connected with reliability of the person's mentality, in other words - with psychological aspects of Human Factor.

Seafaring Career and Professional Reliability

In relation to seafaring career, questions of professional reliability play a big role.

Seafarers’ life activity during a voyage proceeds in the extreme conditions of the increased responsibility and risk ( повышенная ответственность и риск ), probability of emergency situations.

2. At the same time while at sea seafarers are exposed to the pressure of various specific psychogenic (stress) factors causing mental overloads (психические перегрузки) of the crew, psychological discomfort, phenomena of psychological fatigue.

 

Psychological aspects of a human factor onboard a vessel find direct reflection in the problem of professional reliability of the ship’s personnel, and in development of preventive measures to ensure seafarers' mental health ( психическое здоровье )*.

-------------------------

* mental health is a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being: (Oxford Dictionary).

 

Stages of Psychological training

The role of healthy mentality in ensuring reliability is great. Any specialist with necessary maritime training and physically healthy still remains potentially dangerous, if his mental characteristics do not meet their professional requirements (если его психические характеристики не соответствуют профессиональным требованиям ).

Therefore, a specialist of the marine transport should be having a continuous psychological training aimed at increasing his professional reliability.

 

Psychological ensuring (психологическое обеспечение) of professional reliability of ship's personnel is formed gradually, at 4 stages replacing each other, at which specific problems are solved:

1. Professional self-determination and psychological professional selection ( психологический профессиональный отбор).

2.  MET ( Maritime Educational Training )  

3.  Adaptation to professional activity at sea.

4.   Regular professional activity.  

 

Forms of Self-Control

It should be noted that self-control is a necessary condition of healthy, adequate mentality. There are various forms of self-control: 

1. For example, a volitional  attention (произвольное внимание) due to which a person supervises himself, his own behavior and activity.

2. Self-control is integrated into volition, strong-willed effort (волевое усилие) aimed at overcoming difficulties (obstacles) toward the planned purpose.

 

3. Self-control plays a basic role in a psychomotor ([͵saıkəʋʹməʋtə] – психомоторный, относящийся к произвольным движениям ) activity of a person. It is shown in conscious self-regulation of the required action, check of movement and coordination correctness, etc.

 

4. Self-control is brightly shown by the example of emotional states (эмоц. состояния):the person checks his own emotional state, revealing possible deviations. 

E.g. In case of a 'mismatch ( рассоглассование), the mechanism of correction is switched on: it suppresses emotional "explosion", and returns emotional reaction to the normal state. It’s necessary to note, that influence upon emotions can have preventive character (упреждающий характер) as well.

E.g. Expecting violation of emotional balance in the situations of danger, risk, increased responsibility, etc., a person seeks to prevent it by means of special methods of self-influence ( самовлияние ): self-persuasion ( самоубеждение ), self-orders (самоприказы), etc.

 

Emotions, Self-control & Traits of Character

(+) Self-control manifestation in the field of emotions is directly connected with such important trait of character as the self-possession (самообладание), which makes a person yield to reason ( слушать голоса разума ), not emotions, be able to carry out his activity in the most unfavourable circumstances.

 

(–) It is important to emphasize that violation or reduction of self-control inevitably leads to emergence of emotional problems. A person with a reduced self-control over the emotional sphere can show violent emotional reactions (excessive joy,, fear, anger, etc.). He is impulsive (импульсивный), inclined to hasty decisions and unreasonable judgments (склонный к поспешным решениям и необоснованным суждениям).

 

  Вопрос 3 Факторы, влияющие на самоконтроль человека. Самоконтроль как средство предотвращения ошибочных действий.

 

Self – Control and Mistakes

Self-control is aimed at timely prevention or detection of the mistakes already made. When self-control is not formed, it will inevitably affect the level of professional reliability.  

 

Self-control thus is an important tool of creating immunity against mistakes ( иммунитет против ошибок ). It acts as a method of mastering professional activity and ensuring its reliability.

 

Faultless actions are a result of a person's self-control over his activity, as the development of self- control is one of the indicators of skills development. (Безошибочные действия – результат контроля человека за своей деятельностью, т. к. совершенство самоконтроля — один из показателей совершенства умений и навыков.)

 

In more general sense, the  process of self-regulation of professional activity itself is an aspect of development of self-control. / В более общем смысле  сам процесс саморегуляции профессиональной деятельности является аспектом развития самоконтроля.

 

Conclusions:

1 Professional reliability is closely connected with reliability of human mentality, i.e. psychological aspects of Human Factor.

2 Professional reliability plays a crucial role in seafarers' life activity due to its specifics.

3 The main psychological mechanism of professional reliability is self-control (self-regulation).

4 Self-control is a necessary condition and result of healthy and adequate mentality of a person.

6 Self-control is an important tool of creating immunity against mistakes. It acts as a method of mastering professional activity and ensuring its reliability.

 

#2

Conflicts

The interpersonal relations in the crew are characterized by instability, they complicate, microgroups appear.

  In the extreme situation of group isolation under the influence of psychological fatigue there are problems in communication of people. Friendly relations between people can be replaced sometimes  by hostility (враждебность)leading to open conflicts. 

  Restraint and compliance (уступчивость) of people disappear, they become irritable and harsh (грубый) with other members. Frequency of conflicts, often unmotivated (Частота конфликтов, часто немотивированных),  increases.

  Usually the reason of insignificant conflicts are household trifles (бытовые мелочи), serious – problems at work. But often conflicts at work regenerate (перерождаться) into personal ones. If conflicts don't get constructive settlement (конструктивное разрешение), they also promote violation of integrity (целостность) of the group structure.

  By the end of a long voyage two types of typical reactions are observed in the behavior of crew members: 

1. either rough - (бурные), aggressive ly offensive (агресcивно-наступательные), emotionally protesting in the form of irritability, conflict, quarrel s (ссоры), or

2. passive ly- defensive (пассивно-оборонительные), indifferent, displayed in the form of isolation, detachment (отстраненность), self-restraint (сдержанность).

 

Conclusion

  Сonditions of deprivation during group isolation are a strong stress factor negatively influencing psychological health of crewmembers, their performance and interpersonal communication. 

 

  Favourable psychological climate in the crew is an important factor helping crew members to endure the conditions of group isolation and influence of negative psychogenic factors, to maintain high working capacity.

 

  In this respect major direction in ship’s officers' activity is creation of favorable 'moral and psychological climate, maintenance of the harmonious interpersonal relations onboard and organization of professional activity without frictions (без трений) and conflicts.

 

 

A daptation

  If you adapt to a new situation or environment, you change your ideas or behaviour in order to deal with it successfully. So every representative of any profession has to adapt to his/her place of work. These are technological adaptation (to "physical" conditions of the enterprise, technological process) and psychosocial adaptation – (to the personnel, group).

  However for representatives of the majority of enterprises this process applies only to one sphere – professional activity, it does not apply to their private or public life.

But a seafarer’s work is a not only professional activity, but also activity of the person within autonomous technical system – a vessel; a person stays here round-the-clock.

Therefore adaptation of crews to working conditions is twice more difficult, than of representatives of many other professions. First, special working conditions (continuous influence of macro ([mækrə(ʋ)]) - and microenvironment factors, influence of extreme factors) complicate adaptation to production and technological processes; secondly, overlapping ([͵əʋvəʹlæpıŋ]) частичное совпадение) of professional activity and life activity increases requirements to psychosocial adaptation.

 

Special character of working conditions, besides, leads to two consequences:

• First, to а uthoritarian ([ɔ:͵θɒrıʹte(ə)rıən] авторитарный) style of crew management on board vessels. It is connected not only with the system of the relations provided by the charter (устав). Psychological researches show that in extreme conditions under low extent of control over environment (в условиях низкого контроля над окружающей средой)the most successful leaders are authoritarian;they strengthen their power and their influence, demand obedience ( [əʹbi:dıəns] ) from subordinates (требуют повиновения от подчиненных). In other words, conditions of work at sea with periodically arising extreme situations promote authoritarian style of crew management.

• Second. To perform their duties effectively the crews are required to be much more cohesive ([kəu'hiːsɪv] сплоченный) and to have the necessary team skills, than in other working groups. That sets  bigger demands to ability of each crewmember to psychosocial (социально-психологической) adaptation.

 

D istinctive f eatures of adaptation to the "combined" work and rest

Crew members artificially (искуственно) differentiate a work and rest zones – by preservation of personal space – 

· by "cultivat ing” cabins («одомашнивать» каюты) with flowers, photos and posters, personal audio-, video equipment and so forth);

· by developing such standards of behavior which assume "respect of private possession", create "rituals" of visiting cabins (according to a preliminary arrangement, giving a knock at the door and so forth).

 

Psychological Criteria and Mechanisms of Seafarers’ Professional Reliability