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| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Ahead of print publication |
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Assessment of perception of crew on habitability factors onboard naval afloat units assessment of perception of crew regarding habitability factors onboard naval afloat units
Anmol Sharma1, Rajesh Batlish2, Khan Muzzafar Ali3
1 Medical Officer, Southern Naval Command, Kochi, India
2 JDMS, ECHS, Hutbay
3 PMO, ICGS, Hutbay
| Date of Submission | 24-Jul-2022 |
| Date of Decision | 04-Nov-2022 |
| Date of Acceptance | 21-Dec-2022 |
| Date of Web Publication | 18-Feb-2023 |
Correspondence Address:
Anmol Sharma,
Medical Division, Base Hospital, New Delhi - 110 010
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None DOI: 10.4103/jmms.jmms_123_22
Background and Objectives: Habitability onboard a warship is multifactorial and constitutes the environment in which the crew operates and accommodates while at sea or at harbor. Maritime work environment is a complex man-machine interaction, with human being the dynamic component as the machine is mostly run by set protocols and algorithms. Efficiency of the dynamic aspect of the man machine interaction is driven by multiple correlated and interrelated factors which can be linked to the ambient and external environment in nature. This study was therefore conducted to survey upon the crew serving onboard Indian Naval Ships as to assess crew perception toward various habitability factors onboard. Materials and Methods: The descriptive study was carried on board various naval warships. A questionnaire-based analysis was conducted on 384 personnel on active duty. Results: Majority of participants agreed that habitability factors have a direct impact on their efficiency while working. Food, ventilation, and adequate living spaces are most crucial with the maximum positive impact on the crew as determined by the survey. Interpretation and Conclusion: Subsequent increase in the quality and variety of equipment with an ergonomical approach is the way forward for an efficient and happy crew. A happy and satisfied seafarer on board a ship is the pivot point to determine the efforts in place and the mission in hand.
Keywords: Ergonomics, habitability, warship
How to cite this URL:
Sharma A, Batlish R, Ali KM. Assessment of perception of crew on habitability factors onboard naval afloat units assessment of perception of crew regarding habitability factors onboard naval afloat units. J Mar Med Soc [Epub ahead of print] [cited 2023 Mar 24]. Available from: https://www.marinemedicalsociety.in/preprintarticle.asp?id=369943 |
| Introduction | |  |
As the Indian Navy (IN) looks beyond into the blue waters and grows into a prime responder in the Indian ocean region, with multidimensional roles including humanitarian assistance, maritime reconnaissance, the need for a proactive and efficient crew is undoubtedly significant. With tremendous evolution in the global maritime domain, life at sea is more challenging than ever. For the seafarers, quality of life at sea depends greatly on the living conditions onboard. Habitability onboard a warship is multifactorial and constitutes the environment in which the crew operates and accommodates while at sea or at harbor.[1] Habitability reflects the level of comfort and adequacy of services provided to the crew in order to perform their work efficiently and is a major aspect of modern shipbuilding practice. Ergonomics is defined as the science of designing and arranging things in the workplace so as to ensure workers interact most efficiently with their environment to ensure maximum productivity.[2] High productivity therefore becomes the most crucial parameter to assess the effectiveness of ergonomically efforts. Maritime work environment is a complex man-machine interaction, with man being the dynamic component as the machine is mostly run by set protocols and algorithms. Efficiency of the dynamic aspect of the man machine interaction is driven by multiple correlated and interrelated factors which can be linked to the ambient and external environment in nature. Although technology has progressed by leapt bounds, with weeding out of ineffective components and increasing efficiency, the attention and efforts to augment human/operator efficiency are infinitely small in comparison. None have been able to terminate the usage of human interface be it for emergency backup, maintenance or supervision. This has instead further reinstated the human factor to be the limiting factor toward efficiency, making more room for ergonomics to be studied and implemented at various levels with the aim being maximum human efficiency leading to concentrated output and results. Unlike commercial marine vessels, naval warships are much more sophisticated and equipped with weapon systems and machinery that needs to be manned at all times leading to an extended stay of many personnel on board for extended period of times. This study was therefore conducted to survey upon the crew serving onboard Indian Naval Ships as to analyze their perception toward various habitability factors onboard.
| Materials and Methods | | |
This qualitative study was conducted among serving personnel posted on naval warships. The study was conducted for a period of 2 years (2019–2021). A survey was conducted amongst ten ships across naval warships. The data in the form of a questionnaire, validated prior with a pilot study were utilized. The crew were prebriefed toward the aim of the study and regarding the marking scheme. It was briefed that the answers were not in respect of their current ship but toward Indian warships in general. Valid responses were being received from 502 personnel. Five hundred and two questionnaires were received from which and 69 were rejected view incomplete answers, blank answers, incomplete demographic details, and improper answering method, respectively. A total of 433 questionnaires were approved for the analysis and responses were noted into soft data. All accepted questionnaires were given a number code and data were noted. A sample size of 390 was calculated with a population of 67,000 as active naval force; confidence interval of 95% and margin of error 5%. Randomized sampling was done to select responses for analysis. Three hundred and ninety responses were analyzed. All active duty IN personnel posted onboard afloat units were included in the study. Personnel who were undergoing any disciplinary case and those unwilling to participate in the study protocol were excluded from the study. Administrative approvals were obtained prior conduct of the survey. Responses were received in the presence of the authors or prebriefed medical staff borne onboard the ship. The questionnaires once filled were collected, counted, and sealed for the further data analysis. The study used a standardized questionnaire which was scrutinized by a pilot study on 30 participants. The responses were marked in an ascending order and represented the rank which the participant each option represented. The cumulative scores reflected the most important subset with the minimum score and the lease important subset with the maximum score. Double blinding was ensured by data entry being done by co-workers. All questionnaires were numbered and screened for accuracy of data. All questionnaires which were wrongly filled were not included in the analysis. The statistical evaluation was performed using the SPSS V 26 (IBM, New York, USA).
| Results | | |
This qualitative study was carried out on board ten naval warships. The median age of participants was 24 years(range: 19 years–48 years). The median age of service of the participants was 5 years(range: 2 years–28 years) and median ship service was 3 years(1 month- 21 years) respectively. Age distribution of participants is shown in [Figure 1].
Perception of crew towards habitability factors
Majority (95.8% n = 374) of participants agreed that habitability factors have a direct impact on their efficiency while working. On being surveyed regarding the relative importance of habitability factors linked with crew efficiency, the following results were obtained as reflected in [Table 1], respectively. No additional factors or points except for those asked in the survey were obtained from the participants. With a median score of 5.77, factors <5.77 are significant with food, ventilation, and adequate living spaces being most crucial as determined by the survey.
Factors primarily consisting adequate lightening and vibration levels did not have a significant impact on the performance of the participants.
Factors to enhance crew efficiency
Analysis of part 2 of the survey was done under six subheads consisting of accommodation, office spaces, food, bathing and hygiene, recreation, and miscellaneous, respectively. Each subheading was to be marked for seven responses, all consisting of options deemed useful towards enhancing habitability standards and were derived from surveys conducted earlier and via pilot study conducted prior the final survey.
Accommodation
With the median score calculated as 3.96, ventilation and adequate bed space/size were considered most significant by participants followed by mattress quality and privacy.
Office space
With a median score of 4.43, factors such as adequate ventilation, good quality of stationary and state of the art computers with printers and scanners; good hygiene and good quality of machinery and equipment play a positive role towards enhancing crew efficiency.
Food
With a median score of 4.42, factors, namely taste of food, improved quality and variety of ration being supplied, and inclusion of healthier and nutritious food options were found out to be significantly associated with a positive response by participants.
Bathing and hygiene
With a median score of 4.08, factors namely availability of 24 h, water supply in bathrooms and toilets, availability of hot water supply and more number of washrooms available to achieve a good washroom to person ratio, limiting waiting period during peak time, were determined as factors linked to a positive response from the crew.
Recreation
With a median score of 4.53, factors namely adequate space for open air exercise and yoga, availability of music system, and a TV were determined as factors linked to a positive response from the crew.
Miscellaneous
With a median score of 4.09, factors namely availability of gym, increase variety of items to shop from in ship's canteen, availability of a library onboard, and dedicated space for meditation were determined as factors linked to a positive response from the crew.
The results of this section are tabulated in [Table 2].
| Discussion | | |
With increasing warship construction in India and in the global maritime domain, increasing emphasis is being given to development of technologically advanced, sustainable, and habitable ships. With state of the art weapon platforms into picture, the dependency on workforce has reduced further giving more space for conceptualizing habitability and working toward an ergonomically efficient platform. Major blue water navies across the globe undertake prolonged missions which entail the crew to stay and work inside the warship throughout the missions which can range up to many months depending upon the type of warship, logistics support offered and task at hand. It therefore becomes important that the conditions inside the warship become conducive to sustain a happy and healthy crew. It is very difficult and challenging for ship designers, constructers, and policy-makers to be able to define the criteria that constitutes a comfortable environment for ship's crew and the limits of tolerance for various conditions. Multiple issues such as temperature, humidity, noise, vibration, and heat radiation are to be kept in mind from the initial phase of ship building. Studies have been conducted primarily by the United States Navy (USN), focusing mainly on the sleeping patterns of watch keepers and associating the arm of habitability affecting the same. A survey conducted in 2002 across USN where 2638 randomly selected personnel were analyzed. All selected personnel were on active duty on-board operational platforms. The results revealed that 44% of the studied personnel were dissatisfied with the shipboard life (47% sailors and 28% officers). Aspects most satisfactory included adequate lightening, space, post office facility, and E-mail access. The personnel were most dissatisfied with personal storage space, rack space, privacy, lack of showers, and laundry facilities.[3] Serial studies conducted at the Naval postgraduate institute school, USA tested habitability in berthing compartments and its association with wellbeing of sailors on-board USN surface warships.[4] The study titled habitability in berthing compartments and wellbeing of sailors working on USN Surface ships conducted between 2014 and 2017 on-board six USN ships.[5] A study conducted by Republic of Korea Navy in 2007 surveyed 208 sailors posted on various class of ships and concluded a significant number were unsatisfied with the habitability on-board. It was further accessed that the participants were satisfied with the sleeping accommodation, bathrooms, mess rooms, food service, laundry service and recreational facilities available on-board. Areas warranting improvement included living spaces, privacy and personal space and a dedicated fitness centre.[6] With the recent boon in shipbuilding and indigenization, we are at a crucial junction where adequate knowledge about the perception of a sailor and officer and their basic necessities can help deliver well suited warships. Our study is first of its survey and has worked upon factors reflected upon by studies conducted on Indian warships in 2012 and analyzed, wherein various habitability factors studied feature as common practices on-board Indian Naval ships to date.[7],[8] On analysis of our study, it was ascertained that food, ventilation, and accommodation are the three most significant areas meriting attention as per the requirements of crew (sailors and officers) serving on-board ships, directly affecting their efficiency.
The study revealed that, food and culinary aspects of habitability to be the most crucial factor. The taste of food being served, improved and increased variety of ration; leading to and increased variety of food and availability of fresh and nutritious options were ranked highest effecting efficiency. Availability of adequate storage capabilities will be crucial towards storage of fresh items for a prolonged period of time. Adequate ventilation and air conditioning was determined as the second most significant parameter being vital for sustaining focus and freshness for the crew also helping prevent skin infections. Introduction of air filtration units also prevents occurrence of contagious/air borne diseases. Adequate living spaces were deemed essential by the crew, focusing on a wider bunk and good quality mattress ensuring a good quality sleep. This has been established before in studies mentioned above and is essential for all crew regardless of their trade and is especially vital for those on watches. Introduction of separate messes for day time sleep with sound proofing or reduced public announcement system can be introduced as well to avoid fatigue, day time sleepiness, and accidents due to inattentiveness.
| Conclusion | | |
The study revealed that, food and culinary aspects of habitability to be the most crucial factor. The taste of food being served, improved and increased variety of ration; leading to and increased variety of food and availability of fresh and nutritious options were ranked highest effecting efficiency. Availability of adequate storage capabilities will be crucial toward storage of fresh items for a prolonged period of time. Adequate ventilation and air conditioning was determined as the second most significant parameter being vital for sustaining focus and freshness for the crew also helping prevent skin infections. Introduction of air filtration units also prevents the occurrence of contagious/airborne diseases. Adequate living spaces were deemed essential by the crew, focusing on a wider bunk and good quality mattress ensuring a good quality sleep. This has been established before in studies mentioned above and is essential for all crew regardless of their trade and is especially vital for those on watches. Introduction of separate messes for day time sleep with sound proofing or reduced public announcement system can be introduced as well to avoid fatigue, day time sleepiness, and accidents due to inattentiveness. Various factors determined by the survey which are perceived to be the most significant by the crew include improved bed space and size, improved quality of stationary items, and computers (along with accessories), provision of healthy and tasty meals of different varieties, provision of 24-h water in washrooms with hot water availability. The facility of a clean, modular washroom with better washroom to person ratio, leading to lesser waiting time during rush hours. Most participants preferred open air exercise viz., a viz., other methods of recreation. Availability of a library with reading space, increased numbers and variety of items available in ship's canteen and provision of music systems with TV were deemed more important than other options on the survey. Factors deemed significant in improving the habitability of crew onboard are majorly provisioned in most IN warships. Subsequent increase in the quality and variety of equipment with an ergonomical approach is the way forward for an efficient and happy crew. A proficient seafarer on board a ship is the pivot point to determine the efforts in place and the mission in hand. It is recommended to undertake such surveys at a pan Navy Scale with additional factors and the results be used to enhance future or ongoing shipbuilding practices and refit programs.
Financial support and sponsorship
AFMRC
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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[Figure 1]
[Table 1], [Table 2]
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