One size fits all? Safety management regulation of ship accidents and personal injuries

Abstract

Safety management regulation is an important supplement to market forces to establish a sufficient safety level in high-risk industries. The accident statistics in Norwegian maritime passenger transportation display a paradox: personal injuries have decreased while ship accidents have increased in the period during which safety management has been regulated (the International Safety Management Code was effectuated in the late 1990s). We interview regulators, shipping company management, and crewmembers about their practices and opinions regarding safety management regulation and use these data to explore how this regulation influences safety management practices to prevent different types of accidents. This study underlines earlier research showing that regulation serves to 'raise the bar' by heightening the industry levels of safety investments and organizational safety awareness. In addition, our results suggest that safety management regulation in maritime transportation is mostly effective for preventing personal injuries in cases in which the personal have sufficient time and resources available, and the procedures are consistent with seafarers' professional values. For ship accidents, such as groundings, other causal factors come into play. We find that the negative consequences of regulation (proceduralization) in particular influence the performance of safety-critical tasks, such as navigation. This may explain why personal injuries have decreased while ship accident frequencies have continued to increase in spite of the regulations aimed at improving safety.

Attitudes of Experienced Seafarers as Predictor of ISM Code Implementation: A Croatian Example

“…The regulators and ship managers perceived that ISM led to safety improvements in the shipping industry, but also highlighted the shortcomings, like increased administrative burden related to SMS and increased safety investments. Similarly as in the previous studies, the crewmembers perceived that ISM and SMS have actually deteriorated the safety on board [9].…”

Crew and passenger deaths from vessel accidents in United Kingdom passenger ships since 1900

“…Such risks can be reduced by good safety practices, fitness criteria for crewmembers and sometimes for passengers and the provision of facilities for medical care on board. There is conflicting evidence about changes in the relative importance of major incidents, occupational and other accidents and illness to deaths and morbidity at sea [31].…”

Beyond Safety Training

“…SeeKnudsen (2009) for a discussion of the relationship between paperwork and seamanship.8This example is also discussed inStørkersen et al (2016).64P.G. Almklov…”