Development of quantitative team performance evaluation method for ERM

Abstract

Engine-room Resource Management (ERM) is a widely used approach to achieve ship’s safe navigation by effectively managing the resources of personnel, equipment, and information in the machinery space. According to the requirements of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, maritime education organizations and universities are developing ERM training courses, by which both experienced and newly recruited seafarers are educated. The maritime industry needs to know whether the training courses are effective or not. This paper aims to propose a quantitative evaluation method of a crew team performance regarding Engine-room Resource Management. A hierarchy framework, composed of four medial elements and 12 associated elements of non-technical skills, is built to construct the evaluation criteria. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is used to calculate the weight of each criterion, and prior research is done by survey to collect the opinions of experts on important aspects of ERM. Both local and global weights of evaluation criteria are decided. During the evaluation process, a behavioral markers system is devised to ensure that evaluators are both objective and consistent. We use the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to calculate the results and a final team performance score can be obtained. The results of this case study show that this method is applicable for the assessment of Engine-room Resource Management training courses.