Human Systems Integration and Shipboard Damage Control

Abstract

ABSTRACTAs the United States and other maritime nations move towards operating combatant ships with fewer people, human‐systems integration (HSI), or human‐centered design, is getting increasing attention in new ship designs. Aboard most ships operating today, damage control is a mostly manual, manpower intensive function. Consequently, it is a key area of concern for ship acquisition programs that need to produce ships that will operate with fewer people. Damage control also is critical to the survival of a warship and the safety of the crew. Consequently, it is very important to ship operators. It is no surprise, therefore, that damage control is a key function of concern when designing new ships to operate with fewer people. This paper discusses the state‐of‐the‐art in HSI and damage control aboard ships today as evidenced by the damage control performance of some of today's ships. The paper draws conclusions about the importance of HSI for effective damage control in new ship designs. The successful application of a human‐centered design approach in the development of a damage control supervisory control system for the U.S. Navy's Damage Control Automation for Reduced Manning (DC‐ARM) Program is described. Finally, major challenges to achieving effective HSI in new ship designs are presented.