Elite Life Labs » Context Drives Behaviour: Rethinking Human Performance at Sea

In the highstakes world of oil and chemical tanker operations, precision, discipline, and safety are nonnegotiable. Yet, even in the most rigorously regulated environments, incidents still occur. Why? One of the most powerful insights from Todd Conklin’s The 5 Principles of Human Performance particularly the principle that “Context Drives Behaviour” offers a paradigm shift in understanding human error and performance at sea.

As a HSEQ consultent and trainer within the maritime industry, I find this principle especially relevant. It helps move client safety culture from one that asks “Who failed?” to one that seeks to understand “Why did it make sense for them to act that way at that time?”

Let’s explore how contextual factors shape crew behavior on tankers, and how we can use this understanding to improve safety, resilience, and team performance onboard.

What Does "Context Drives Behaviour" Mean?

At its core, the principle recognizes that people do not make decisions in a vacuum. Behaviour is not merely a product of knowledge or compliance but is heavily influenced by conditions, environment, organizational systems, social norms, fatigue, pressure, and competing goals.

In maritime operations, a third engineer who bypasses a safety valve isn’t necessarily careless or rebellious. Their decision may have been influenced by:

Time pressure from superiors to complete maintenance before port arrival
Fatigue from consecutive night shifts
Peer culture that normalizes workarounds to “get the job done”
A misunderstood risk due to ambiguous procedures
Environmental discomfort, like heat, noise, or vibration in the engine room

When we judge decisions without understanding the context, we miss critical learning opportunities and risk repeating the same mistakes.

Context in the Maritime Environment

Tankers operate under unique stressors long voyages, isolation, multicultural crews, harsh physical environments, and strict commercial pressures. All these factors form the contextual fabric in which seafarers make decisions.

1. Fatigue and Watchkeeping

Despite IMO regulations on hours of rest, fatigue remains a chronic issue. When a second officer on the 04:00–08:00 watch overlooks a radar contact, it's tempting to label it as negligence.

But was he on a 6on/6off schedule for days?

Did he experience broken sleep due to rough weather?

Did he have additional paperwork demands?

Understanding fatigue as a contextual contributor shifts the focus from blaming to building better watch schedules, improving rest environments, or even using wearable fatigue monitoring tools.

2. Commercial Pressures vs. Safety Culture

In ports, operations like cargo transfer and tank cleaning are often under intense time pressure.

When an AB enters a tank space without fully checking the gas readings, is it a training failure or did he feel pressure from the bosun to move quickly?

Did the port call planning not allow adequate time?

Context reveals the systemic tensions between operational efficiency and safety. By acknowledging these tensions, we can design better safety buffers and workflows.

3. Cross Cultural Team Dynamics

In multinational crews, behavior is also shaped by cultural context how authority is perceived, how people communicate risk, or how they respond to error.

A junior Filipino crew member might not openly challenge a Greek chief officer due to hierarchical norms, even when a mistake is observed. Understanding this dynamic allows us to train officers to invite dissent, build psychological safety, and use tools like SBAR or closedloop communication to reduce cultural gaps.

How Do We Train for Contextual Awareness?

✅ 1. Scenario-Based Learning

Use reallife incident reports to dissect the context, not just the actions. Ask crews:

What might have influenced this behavior?
What were the competing priorities?
What would you have done in this situation?

✅ 2. Systems Thinking Workshops

Shift from linear “root cause” thinking to systems thinking.

Help teams map out how work is actually done, and where vulnerabilities emerge, not just where procedures were not followed.

✅ 3. Just Culture Training

Foster an environment where context is explored without fear of punishment. Teach leaders how to respond to failure with curiosity, not judgment. This builds trust and promotes honest conversations.

Designing with Context in Mind

Training alone isn’t enough. We must design systems that fit the human, not force humans to fit the system.

⚓ Simplify procedures to reduce cognitive load

⚓ Improve usability of bridge equipment and ECDIS interfaces

⚓ Provide better feedback loops (alarms that explain, not just warn)

⚓ Implement condition-based maintenance instead of rigid checklists

⚓ Recognize normal workarounds and build them into formal procedures

Conclusion: From Blame to Understanding

By embracing the principle that “Context Drives Behaviour”, the maritime industry can move beyond reactive safety approaches and embrace a more adaptive, human centered safety model.

Seafarers are not the problem they are the solution. If we truly want safer tankers, fewer incidents, and higher performance, we must stop asking “Why didn’t they follow the rules?” and start asking, “What did the situation demand of them, and how can we support better decisions next time?”

Safety doesn’t begin with the elimination of error. It begins with understanding the people behind the performance and the context that shapes their every move.

Let’s build ships where it’s easy to do the right thing, even in the toughest moments.

Because when context drives behaviour, it’s our job to shape the context together.

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