Abstract
Non-technical skills (NTS) can be defined as “the cognitive, social and personal resource skills that complement technical skills and contribute to safe and efficient task performance” (Flin et al. 2008, Safety at the sharp end: a guide to non-technical skills, p. 1). This paper aims to explore how bridge officers understand and discuss the non-technical skills involved in behavior and performance of participants in Bridge Resource Management (BRM) training. A thematic network analysis is applied to transcriptions of post-simulation debriefing sessions, based on a peer observation system that encourages discussion between training participants. The five skills identified are situation awareness, decision-making, stress management, verbal communication, and balanced leadership, all of which are mostly found to be in concurrence with generic theory on non-technical skills. However, for each of these skills, the findings also provide examples of certain aspects where the informants’ understanding stray from generic theory and BRM syllabus. This is discussed as possible clues to domain-specific aspects of NTS at ship bridges, as well as yielding implications for BRM training.
Highlights
Psychologists have long been interested in factors that enhance performance and minimize the chance of errors in operational domains (Flin et al 2008)
This study aims to contribute to this effort, by exploring how bridge officers understand and discuss the non-technical skills involved in behavior and performance of participants in Bridge Resource Management (BRM) training
The present study identified five global themes, each corresponding to an established non-technical skills (NTS) skill in generic NTS literature: situation awareness, decision-making, stress management, verbal communication and balanced leadership
Summary
Psychologists have long been interested in factors that enhance performance and minimize the chance of errors in operational domains (Flin et al 2008). One part of the field, broadly termed human factors or the human element, is the non-technical skills (NTS) of those who work at the sharp end. These skills are defined as “the cognitive, social and personal. Recent literature reviews indicate that relatively few studies have been performed on the specifics of bridge officers’ NTS, and that there is a need for further exploration (Fjeld et al 2018; Wahl and Kongsvik 2018). This study aims to contribute to this effort, by exploring how bridge officers understand and discuss the non-technical skills involved in behavior and performance of participants in Bridge Resource Management (BRM) training
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