Professor Mike Barnett

Professor of Maritime Safety

 

professor Mike Barnett

Mike Barnett is Professor of Maritime Safety and Associate Director (Academic Development) at the Warsash Maritime Academy| of Southampton Solent University. He is also the current Head of the School of Management and Postgraduate Studies. After a seafaring career to chief officer rank, Mike joined Warsash in 1985 as a lecturer in tanker safety, in which post he was also responsible for the development of the Centre's liquid cargo operations simulator (LICOS). He was awarded a PhD from the University of Wales, Cardiff in 1989 for his work on human error and maritime safety. In 1995, he was a member of the UK delegation at IMO for the revision of the STCW Convention.

 

He has been Head of Research at Warsash since 1991, during which time he has directed externally sponsored research projects at national, European and international levels in two main areas of maritime human factors||:  

  • Research that underpins the Centre's core business of maritime education and training to reduce accidents and improve safety. UK funded projects have included the use of simulators in training and assessment (MCA: 1994), particularly in the situational awareness skills required during escalating emergencies and crises (MCA: 2000) and the mitigation of human error in automated ship-borne systems (MCA: 2006). Through various EC funded projects, he contributed to the development of CBT, virtual reality and distance learning systems for seafarers (EC: 1997-2001). Mike also led the development of a leading-edge consultancy to the London insurance market in the risk assessment of shipping companies. (1997-2002).
  • Research in seafarer employment and human resource management issues. A wide-ranging and long-term research programme was commenced in 1997 into the recruitment, selection and retention of seafarers. Individual projects have included the development of retention tools (1999), marketing seafaring careers (2000), cadet terms and conditions (2002), alternative manning structures (2002) the training and supply of senior Filipino officers (2002) and the mapping of shore-based career opportunities for ex-seafarers (2005).

 

His current post encompasses responsibility for the development of the Academy's postgraduate and management courses, supervision of maritime PhD students, and the management of research.

 

Mike is a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Marine Scientist, a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and a Fellow of the Nautical Institute and a current  Member of its Council. He also sits on a number of industrial bodies with an interest in the human element in shipping:  the Maritime Advisory Board of CHIRP, the MCA's Research Advisory Committee, the MCA's Human Element Advisory Group (HEAG), the panel on human resources in the European Maritime Industries Forum, the Human Element sub-committee of Intertanko, and the Human Factors Working Group of ICS. Mike is also on the editorial board of the World Maritime University Journal of Maritime Affairs.

 

His research interests include human error and accident causation, the cultural aspects of maritime safety and human fallibility; decision-making in crisis; and the evaluation of human and organisational performance in a maritime context.

 

Qualifications:

 

BSc (Hons) PhD, CMarSci, FIMarEST, FNI

 

Education:

  • BSc (Hons) Environmental Sciences - University of East Anglia
  • PhD: "Human Error and Maritime Safety" - University of Wales, Cardiff

Subject expertise and research interests:

  • System safety, human error and accident causation;
  • Individual, team and organisational behaviour in a maritime context. 
  • Situational awareness and leadership;
  • Cultural aspects of maritime operations and safety;

Professor Barnett is willing to give lectures, interviews and seminars on the above.

  

Professor Barnett's inaugural lecture|