Creating safety in a context of conflicting interests: The watch officer on board of a Dutch frigate

Sammanfattning: The watch officer on board of vessels of the Netherlands Royal Navy has to deal with a wide variety of interest during his/her duty. Despite the wide variety of interests the watch officer has to manage, the amount of incidents and accidents is few. Apparently, the watch officers of the Netherlands Royal Navy are well able to manage this wide variety of interests. The aim of this thesis research was to find out how this could be, how the watch officers apparently are able to create safety in a context of conflicting interests. To answer the question how the watch officer creates safety in this context of conflicting interests, a case study has been performed on board of one of the frigates of the Netherlands Royal Navy. During a three-month deployment, a total of six watch officers were interviewed and observed. The data from these interviews and observations was complemented with data gathered through the thorough study of relevant documentation. A total of one hundred and thirty-eight interests were identified during this thesis research. It is plausible to suggest, from this number, a context of conflicting interest to arise. What this study points out is that the success of the watch officer in the creation of safety is explained by the fact that he/she uses different strategies, such as the creation of rest on the bridge (by ordering people to be quiet or to leave), the creation of time on the bridge (by maneuvering the ship) and the management of workload in different ways, to manage these conflicting interests. A finding of particular interest is the fact that these strategies in itself also form part of the interests of the watch officer.