Communication and its role in influencing shipboard occupational health and safety management in Chinese shipping

The thesis looks at the communication between the management shore and crew on board vessels, and examines the role of such communication in influencing OHSM in two Chinese chemical shipping companies. The study was conducted in the shore offices of two companies, as well as on four of their chemical tankers. The data was mainly collected by semi-structured interviews, supplemented by field observations, informal discussions and document analyses. By examining major areas of communication closely related to OHSM, i.e., shore to ship communication for work support, shore to ship communication for management control, ship to shore communication for safety reporting, ship to shore communication for safety suggestions, the study presents the range of purposes behind communication between the two. The study shows that communication between shore management and ship’s crew is significantly influenced by divergent interests between the two. It reveals a set of socio-economic and cultural factors that underlie their communication. As a consequence, such communication has noticeable influence on crew’s shipboard working practices as well as indirect effects on crew’s health, safety and well-being. The findings of this study show that shore-ship communication is mainly in an asymmetrical form. It was generally disengaged with the concerns of OHSM. The communication contributed to an unfavourable working environment. The study suggested that communication achieved very limited outcomes for OHSM. The study concludes by calling policy makers as well as industrial practitioners to rethink the role of communication in effective OHSM and reshape maritime regulatory strategy in promoting OHSM in the global shipping industry

Who is dominant? Occupational Health and Safety management in Chinese shipping

This paper investigates the implementation of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code in the Chinese chemical shipping industry. In particular, it examines the tension between management focus on speedy production and seafarers’ participation in safety related decision making and analyses how this tension is managed. It shows that while on paper companies have policies stating safety commitment in compliance with the ISM Code, in practice shore management tends to prioritise efficient production. When Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and ship’s sailing schedules are in conflict, managers implicitly request shipmasters to prioritise the ‘core interest’ of the company. Although the ISM Code endows shipmasters with overriding authorities in relation to shipboard safety management, they tend to read between the lines and tacitly follow managers’ intentions. The study suggests that if the ISM implementation makes a difference, it is the practice that managers become more subtle in giving orders to exert their dominance. The study further reveals that the management’s practice is not only irresponsive to seafarers’ safety concerns but also makes rather limited contributions to promote OHS Management

Efficiency Measurement and Determinant Factors of Marine Economy in China: Based on the Belt and Road Perspective

Analyzing the evolution characteristics and influencing factors of marine economic efficiency is the foundation to improve the quality of marine economic development. A super-efficiency Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model is applied to measure the marine economic efficiency of 11 coastal provinces between 2006 and 2017 in China. Time series and standard deviation ellipse methods are used to analyze its temporal and spatial characteristics. The influencing factors of efficiency are analyzed using the Bayesian model averaging (BMA) method based on the indicator system constructed on the relationship between the Belt and Road and marine economic efficiency. The research found that (1) the average change of marine economic efficiency is not large, and the efficiency values among most provinces are relatively stable. (2) The center of gravity of marine economic efficiency gradually shifts from the northeast to the southwest; the spatial scope continues to shrink, the level of flatness indicates increase at first followed by decrease, and the direction angle shows a fluctuating trend. (3) The compliance rate of industrial wastewater discharge and the diversification of the marine industry structure have strong explanatory capacity in marine economic efficiency in the coastal areas. This research proposed the specific path to improve the efficiency of marine economy and facilitate quality development under the “Belt and Road” initiative from the aspects of the optimization of the marine industry structure, the integrated construction of transportation, the development of opening to the outside world, the progress of marine science and technology, and the improvement of the marine ecological environment

Dynamic Reversible Evolution of Wrinkles on Floating Polymer Films under Magnetic Control

In this paper, we present a simple and versatile method to dynamically and reversibly tailor surface wrinkles on a floating polymer film by combining a magnetic droplet and neodymium magnet. The magnetic force from the attraction of the neodymium magnet to the magnetic droplet is the main reason for surface instabilities of floating polymer films, which can induce radial stress in the radial direction, and further, compressive stress in the circumferential direction. This compressive stress can trigger not only floating film wrinkling but also a wrinkle-fold transition. Surface morphologies on the floating polymer film have been systematically studied, by varying the distance between the magnetic droplet and neodymium magnet, polymer film thickness, and magnetic droplet volume. With the decrease in the distance between a magnetic droplet and a neodymium magnet, the decrease in polymer film thickness, and the increase in the magnetic droplet volume, the wrinkle numbers increase and even a wrinkle-fold transition happens. Additionally, the coupling effect of multiple magnetic droplets on the floating film has also been used to achieve novel surface wrinkle patterns, which greatly widens the applications of surface wrinkling

Supply chain leverage and regulating health and safety management in shipping

The aim of paper is to understand the role and significance of supply chain leverage in promoting health and safety management at sea, the institutional contexts in which it occurs and under which circumstances it is effective. This is a qualitative research study that examined the views of seafarers and their managers on what drives the implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) management arrangements in two shipping sectors, namely, the independent oil and chemical tanker trade and the container trade. It is based on interviews with seafarers working on board several of these vessels and with representatives of the companies managing and operating the ships. As might be anticipated from previous theorizing of supply chain effects on OHS, the study found there to be strong evidence of its influence on OHS management arrangements on tankers. The most significant driver of this effect for both managers and seafarers appeared to be the surveillance of their OHS arrangements instituted by the heads of the supply chain—in this case the oil majors and their inspection systems. Perhaps more surprisingly, despite the more diffuse, transactional and arms-length supply arrangements in the container trade, in the one case study from this sector examined in the paper, supply chain influences on OHS were nevertheless discernable. However, it also demonstrated the positive role played by the framework for maritime regulation in determining the significance of these influences. Essentially, the results indicate that, under certain conditions, supply chain relations are useful in helping to support implementation of arrangements for OHS management on merchant vessels. However, it also more broadly demonstrates that such leverage is most likely to be effective when it operates within a wider institutional framework in which public regulation and its surveillance by regulatory authorities remains a key element

Swelling/Deswelling-Induced Reversible Surface Wrinkling on Layer-by-Layer Multilayers

Layer-by-layer (LbL) multilayer film is incorporated in the fabrication of a film/substrate system for the investigation of swelling/deswelling-induced wrinkle evolution for the first time. As one typical example, hydrogen-bonded (PAA/PEG)_<i>n</i> (PAA, poly­(acrylic acid); PEG, poly­(ethylene glycol)) is deposited on a poly­(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrate via the LbL technique. Heating treatment causes the covalent cross-linking reaction to occur in the H-bonded multilayers with simultaneously spontaneous formation of labyrinth wrinkles. Subsequent water immersion leads to the evolution of a series of the swelling-sensitive wrinkles in the thermally cross-linked (PAA/PEG)_<i>n</i>/PDMS bilayer, ranging from initial labyrinth wrinkles (a) to an intermediate smooth wrinkle-free state (b), hexagonally arranged dimples (c), and the later-segmented labyrinth patterns (d). Upon deswelling by reheating of the swollen bilayer, the reverse wrinkle evolution happens via the process of d → b, or d → b → a, or c → b, or c → b → a, which is dependent on the reheating temperature and the swelling-induced pattern. We investigate the influences of experimental conditions on the swelling kinetics and the resulting wrinkle evolution, which include the thickness of (PAA/PEG)_<i>n</i>, the additionally deposited outermost layer (e.g., Pt and polystyrene), and the swelling solution pH. The involved mechanism has been discussed from the viewpoint of the relation between the wrinkling behavior and the swelling/deswelling-induced stress state. The results indicate that the combined strategy of LbL assembly with the introduction of additional layers endows us with considerable freedom to fabricate multifunctional film/substrate systems and to tune the instability-driven patterns for advanced properties and extended applications

Swelling/Deswelling-Induced Reversible Surface Wrinkling on Layer-by-Layer Multilayers

Layer-by-layer (LbL) multilayer film is incorporated in the fabrication of a film/substrate system for the investigation of swelling/deswelling-induced wrinkle evolution for the first time. As one typical example, hydrogen-bonded (PAA/PEG)_<i>n</i> (PAA, poly­(acrylic acid); PEG, poly­(ethylene glycol)) is deposited on a poly­(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrate via the LbL technique. Heating treatment causes the covalent cross-linking reaction to occur in the H-bonded multilayers with simultaneously spontaneous formation of labyrinth wrinkles. Subsequent water immersion leads to the evolution of a series of the swelling-sensitive wrinkles in the thermally cross-linked (PAA/PEG)_<i>n</i>/PDMS bilayer, ranging from initial labyrinth wrinkles (a) to an intermediate smooth wrinkle-free state (b), hexagonally arranged dimples (c), and the later-segmented labyrinth patterns (d). Upon deswelling by reheating of the swollen bilayer, the reverse wrinkle evolution happens via the process of d → b, or d → b → a, or c → b, or c → b → a, which is dependent on the reheating temperature and the swelling-induced pattern. We investigate the influences of experimental conditions on the swelling kinetics and the resulting wrinkle evolution, which include the thickness of (PAA/PEG)_<i>n</i>, the additionally deposited outermost layer (e.g., Pt and polystyrene), and the swelling solution pH. The involved mechanism has been discussed from the viewpoint of the relation between the wrinkling behavior and the swelling/deswelling-induced stress state. The results indicate that the combined strategy of LbL assembly with the introduction of additional layers endows us with considerable freedom to fabricate multifunctional film/substrate systems and to tune the instability-driven patterns for advanced properties and extended applications

Large-Area Patterning of Polyaniline Film Based on <i>in Situ</i> Self-Wrinkling and Its Reversible Doping/Dedoping Tunability

Here we report a simple one-pot yet robust approach to fabricate large-scale wrinkle patterns with reversible acid-doping/base-dedoping tunability. A novel swelling-induced self-wrinkling mechanism is responsible for the <i>in situ</i> growth of wrinkled polyaniline (PANI) film on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The spontaneously formed wrinkles with controlled microstructures such as the wavelength, spatial orientation, and location have been well regulated by PANI film thickness (via polymerization time and monomer concentration) and PDMS substrate modulus as well as the boundary conditions imposed by the substrate. The results indicate that the <i>in situ</i> self-wrinkling is highly desirable for patterning PANI film over large areas with the instability-driven morphologies, even in the case of curved surfaces employed. Interestingly, taking advantage of the swelling/deswelling capability via the unique acid doping/base dedoping of PANI, we have further realized unprecedented reversible modulation between the wrinkled and dewrinkled states. The involved physics underlying the complicated <i>in situ</i> self-wrinkling and the reversible doping/dedoping tunability has been revealed