Assessing artefacts of maritime safety culture—current state and prerequisites for improvement

Abstract

Implementing safety management (ISM Code) aims to promote a good safety culture in the maritime industry. However, although this has improved safety, it has also paradoxically increased bureaucracy and overlooked operative personnel. At the same time, safety science has undergone a paradigm shift from Safety-I, which is traditional and error based, to Safety-II, which focuses on the potential of the human element. To determine whether Safety-I is dominant in the prevailing culture, or whether any Safety-II ideas are emerging, we studied the current thinking and the prerequisites for improving maritime safety culture and safety management. We interviewed 17 operative employees and 12 safety and unit managers (n = 29), both individually and in groups, in eight Finnish maritime organisations representing the maritime system (shipping companies, authorities, vessel traffic service, association). We also analysed 21 inspection documents to capture practical safety defects. To the employees, safety culture meant openness and well-functioning, safe work. However, this was not always the case in practice. Safety management procedures were portrayed as mainly technical/ authority focused, and as neglecting the human element, such as the participation of operative personnel in safety improvements. We also found several factors that support improving maritime safety culture. The ISM code seems to have supported traditional methods of safety management (Safety-I), but not the creation of a positive safety culture, which the Safety-II paradigm has highlighted. System-wide safety improvement, participation of the operative personnel and open sharing of safety data were the areas in need of development. These were already being created in and among maritime organisations. To improve maritime safety culture in a concrete way and to achieve Safety-II in practice, we need a new focus and competence. Policy, procedures, and practical tools and models should use the human element as potential.

The influence of organisational safety resource-related activities and other exploratory variables on seafarers’ safety behaviours

“…The focus of numerous studies has been on the success factors related to the implementation of the ISM Code, the development of safety systems and a safety culture, and the improvement of safety outcomes (Kuronen and Tapaninen, 2010;Bhattacharya, 2012b;Batalden and Sydnes, 2014;Pantouvakis and Karakasnaki, 2016;Karakasnaki et al, 2018;Mišković et al, 2019;Teperi et al, 2019;Baştuğ et al, 2021). This study differs from previous studies mainly in its approach to examine the influence of activities related to organisational safety resources on safety behaviour.…”

“…In other words, self-regulation was introduced into the industry. Following the goal of ISM -the development of a safety culture -, numerous studies have been conducted with results indicating that such a safety culture has not been widely adopted (e.g., Bhattacharya, 2012b;Batalden and Sydnes, 2014;Teperi et al, 2019). Lappalainen (2008) states that the foundation of ISM is largely based on the philosophy of total quality management and at the same time stresses the importance of management commitment and empowerment of personnel to achieve continuous improvement.…”

“…In other words, self-regulation was introduced into the industry. Following the goal of ISM – the development of a safety culture –, numerous studies have been conducted with results indicating that such a safety culture has not been widely adopted (e.g., Bhattacharya, 2012b; Batalden and Sydnes, 2014; Teperi et al., 2019).…”

Knowing versus understanding: adjusting the contextual lens in safety science

“…A Finnish maritime safety, conducted by Teperi, Lappalainen, Puro, and Perttula [69] offers a good example of the emergent property of qualitative research. Amongst the many findings revealed from analysis of data collected from "17 operative employees and 12 safety and unit managers" was that inspections conducted by maritime authorities focus almost exclusively on technical matters with little attention paid to psychosocial factors and Human Factors.…”

Improvements to a Fire Safety Management System

“…The results of extensive studies concerning safety culture in the Finnish maritime sector have also been presented [26]. The basis for this study was a set of questionnaires and interviews with many representatives of Finnish maritime organisations.…”