Dhwani graduated with a B.Sc. in Ship Science from the University of Southampton in 2020. Dhwani is now a postgraduate research student in maritime engineering with a research interest in the application of ergonomics and human factors in the maritime domain.
Human error is the leading cause of maritime accidents and incidents and there is a growing realisation within the maritime industry that there is need to consider the human element to improve safety outcomes.
The research project adopts a systemic view of human error. Evidence shows that many accidents and incidents attributed to human error are actually the cause of up-stream systemic factors such as poor design and usability. There is a well-documented link between human error and poor design and usability in the maritime domain, where crew are forced to adapt or modify the use of work areas, machinery, and equipment in order to successfully complete tasks and goals. Adopting a human-centred approach in the design of ships has the potential to improve safety outcomes through a reduction in design-induced errors, work-arounds and retrofit costs. However, despite the clear benefits of human-centred design, it remains underutilised in the ship design process and to date there remain few practical examples of successful HCD in the industry.
The research project is conducted in collaboration with Shell Maritime and Shipping under the Centre for Maritime Futures partnership. It aims to assess organisational opportunities for and barriers to adopting human-centred design approaches in the ship design process and across the ship's lifecycle in order to create viable processes, techniques and tools for improving the perception and application of human-centred design in industry.