Work as Done? Understanding the Practice of Sociotechnical Work in the Maritime Domain

Pilots and vessel traffic services (VTS) operators work to improve the safety of navigation of seagoing vessels. As in many other safety-critical domains, work is increasingly characterized by the integration and dissemination of information between humans and technology, across disciplines, and over multiple geographical locations. Empirical studies of navigational assistance were analyzed with the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) to understand what pilots and VTS operators do and how it contributes toward maritime safety. Successful assistance was found to be dependent on (1) the use of local knowledge, preparation, and foresight to integrate information from a range of sources and (2) communication and trust between the pilot, VTS operator, and the master and crew of the vessel to provide timely assistance to vessels. FRAM was found to be a valuable tool for describing sociotechnical work but was enriched by borrowing from ethnographically inspired work studies traditions, with their strong grounding in empirical studies and themes of “making work visible,” symmetry between human and nonhuman, and work as activity. This approach indicates that bringing ideas from different traditions together to understand a real work practice may bring us closer to describing “work as done” and its contribution to safe everyday operations.