The procedures for training a new person in
engine-room operations vary considerably, depending
upon such factors as the ship’s steaming schedule, the
condition of the engine-room machinery, the number of
experienced personnel available to assist in the training,
and the amount of time that can be devoted to the
training. In general, however, you will probably begin
by training the trainee to act as messenger. Then, before
the trainee is assigned to any actual duty, he or she
should be introduced to the engine room and become
familiar with the location of all machinery, equipment,
piping, and valves. The trainee must also be instructed
in certain basic safety precautions and be specifically
warned about the dangers of turning valve wheels or
tampering with machinery. “IF IN DOUBT, ASK
QUESTIONS!” is a pretty good rule for any new person
in the engine room to follow.
A person ready to be trained in the duties of
messenger should be shown all the gauges that are in
use, told what the gauges indicate, and shown how to
take readings. The trainee should understand why the
readings are important, exactly how often each gauge
must be read, and how to make accurate entries in the
engine-room log. When you are sure the trainee
understands everything about gauges, teach the trainee
how to check lube-oil levels and how to clean metal
edge-type filters and basket strainer-type.
For a while you will have to keep a close watch on
the trainee’s performance of these duties. When the
trainee becomes proficient in the duties of messenger,
start the training in the throttleman’s duties. Fist, let the
trainee observe the throttleman Then, if conditions
permit, let the trainee start and secure machinery.
As far as manual skills are concerned, the
throttleman’s job is probably easier than the
messenger’s job. But the throttle watch requires the
utmost vigilance and reliability, and a new person will
have a lot to learn before being trusted to stand the
throttle watch alone. Personnel should always start out
under the supervision of an experienced throttleman and
should remain under this supervision until the petty
officer in charge of the engine room is fully satisfied that
the trainee is completely qualified for this duty.
In training engine-room personnel who have not had
previous engine-room experience, remember that an
engine room can be a complicated and confusing place
to someone who walks into it for the first time. A lot of
equipment is crammed into a small space, and a lot of
complex actions are going on at the same time. When
training new personnel, try to think back to the time
when you first went into an engine room. What aspects
of engine-room operations were most confusing to you
at first? What kind of training would have made your
learning easier and faster? By analyzing your own early
experience and reactions, you get a bearing on what a
new person may experience and you may be able to
provide more effective training.
When you train new personnel, remember that they
vary widely in their methods and rates of learning. Some
people will learn most effectively if you give them an
overall view of main engine operations, including a
certain amount of theory, before going into the details
of the hardware and the manual operations. Others will
learn most effectively if they are taught some manual
skills before getting too involved with theory. Some
people learn manual skills rapidly but take a long time
to absorb the theory; for others, the reverse is true. And,
of course, some people learn everything slowly. Some
trainees benefit from patient, almost endless repetition
of information; others may become bored and restless if
you go over the same point too often. The important
thing to remember is that your training efforts will be
most successful if you are able to observe and allow for
the individual differences that are bound to exist.
Closely related to this point is another: Don’t make snap
judgments about people’s abilities until they have had a
chance to DEMONSTRATE them. You may turn out to
be very wrong if you make snap judgments on the basis
of a general impression, such as appearance, or the rate
at which they learn when they first come into the engine
room.
When training personnel who have already had
some engine-room experience but who have been on
some other type of ship, you may find that a certain
amount of retraining is needed before the individual can
qualify as an engine-room watch stander on your ship.
No two engine rooms are precisely alike in all details,
and no two main engines that appear to be identical
behave in precisely the same way under all conditions.
Each engine has its own individuality, and operating
personnel must adjust to the engine to obtain the best
results. Practically all Enginemen learn this sooner or
later; you can speed up the learning process by
encouraging engine-room personnel to notice and to
discuss differences between engines.
SAFETY TRAINING
Because of the necessity for strict observance of
safety precautions, all engine-room operational training
must be rigidly controlled and supervised. On-the-job
training is necessary if an individual is to acquire the
actual skills needed for main engine operation;
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