Professional competence, standardization and safety in aviation and the maritime industry

Professional Competence is regarded as an important factor for safe practice in both sea and aviation. Nevertheless, it is uncertain what a competence like "seamanship" really is, and also how safety is affected by it. PROCOM has investigated how the profession and competence have changed fundamentally but also differently within two maritime examples (Anchor Handling and Supply) and two aviation examples (Fixed Wing and Helicopter). The main focus has been on how regulation regimes and standardization processes affect transport sectors that to a different extent are based on craft practices and individual skills. The changes we have focused most on can be linked to the terms "skill", "de-skilling" and "re-skilling". Skill refers here both to the specific skills of pilots, captains, officers, sailors, etc. who are involved in carrying out work - but also the formally recognized skills associated with the work. The general tendency goes towards de-skilling in the sense that responsibilities and assessments are increasingly being handled by new technologies or elsewhere in the organization than in the cockpit/on the bridge. Standardization processes, technology development and regulatory processes are clear drivers for this. At the same time, we see obvious cases of re-skilling, that is, new situations require new skills - and that it is precisely the new technology, the new organizational conditions and the regulatory regimes that must be handled at all levels on vessels and vessels. There is a clear connection between the nature of work, and how standardization processes affects it. Frame conditions are similar between AHT vessels and Supply vessels are - and the development related to the introduction of new forms of regulation, a desire for standardization of work and externalization of responsibility are similar as well. At the same time, AHTs is more often in situations of more complex and unforeseen nature, that requires seamanship, individual skills and improvising teamwork on board the vessel. Thus, a lower degree of de-skilling is occurring for this type of vessel; complex situations is more difficult to control before the situation occurs and from other places than where the situation occurs - and thus it is necessary to have specialized skills and recognized skills on board. Measured by a degree of complexity and degree of regulation, our examples from aviation areat different ends of the scales. Small private helicopter -companies and -pilots do not experience that standardization and regulatory regimes control their work in any detail. The work is perceived to be very complex and based on the different pilots' assessments, decisions and skills. In comparison, Fixed Wing pilots describe that there a decline in situations that depend on the pilots' assessments and individual skills, in parallel with the fact that the profession also experiences a formal de-skilling, a lower degree of recognition and sense of responsibility. In terms of safety, both variation in work and tendencies of standardization and regulation must be taken into account. In summary, we see that the authorities and the different companies should take account the nature of the different work situations and assess the different effects of de- and re-skilling that follow standardization and regulatory processes.

This project description is a reformulation of the two project proposals "Safety and Performance in Aviation and Maritime Operations" (University of Tromsø) and "Professional competence, standardization and safety in aviation and the maritime industry (PR OCOM)" (NTNU Social Research) into one joint project description. We refer to the original project descriptions for elaborations of some of the sections below. This project will study professional competence - seamanship and airmanship respectively - as a phenomenon and as a resource for safety in the maritime and aviation domain. We will study what constitutes professional competence both as an individual and an organizational trait. The project answers the TRANSIKK call for proposals within the themat ic areas 1 (Interplay between technology and human/organization/society) and 2(Possibilities and challenges related to rule based safety).