Usage of SLIM methodology for improving the safety of lifeboat drills’ performance

Lifeboat drills are vital to maritime safety, and therefore, international regulations require their performance at prescribed intervals. The primary purpose of these drills is to ensure crew members’ familiarisation with emergency procedures and provide basic training for passengers onboard in case of the necessity to abandon ship. However, although the intention of drills is to improve safety onboard ships, numerous injuries and fatalities occurred during their performance. Therefore, there is a need to determine the most dangerous tasks during the abandon ship and lifeboat drills, the probability of human error and the factors affecting human performance during the execution of such tasks. This paper aims to determine the specific tasks and estimate human error probabilities when performing these drills using the Success Likelihood Index Method (SLIM) human reliability analysis. According to the results, corrective actions are proposed to reduce the number of these accidents and improve safety at sea.