Human factor in extremes

摘要

The maritime industry often has the focus on the developments and innovations regarding the build of vessels, the electrical adjustments, financing and regulatory factors. What about the people who work on board vessels? What kind of factors do they encounter and what kind of effect does this have on their ability to work? Hein Daanen and Jelte Bos of TNO offer their views and findings on this subject. "Many factors can become an 'extreme'", states Daanen, who specialises in what cold does to the human body. "Consider weather, climate, temperature, humidity, sun, wind and movement." Movement is something Bos knows a lot of and defines extreme as all movements that require an employee needing one hand to hold on, leaving one free to fulfill a task. Next to that, you can imagine all strange factors that you would not come across in an office environment or which require clothing to keep you cool or warm.