Antecedents of safety-compliant behaviour on offshore service vessels: a multi-factorial approach

Abstract

Procedure violations are commonly identified as an essential causal factor in maritime accidents. This also applies to the Norwegian offshore service vessel sector. This illustrates that there is a need to study compliance and non-compliance in a broad context and to explore the factors that affect the propensity to act in accordance with prevailing procedures. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine the antecedents of safety-compliant behaviour among workers on offshore service vessels operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. With reference to a survey of 1108 offshore service vessel workers, this was done by analysing the relationship between a set of predictor variables and a self-report measure of safety-compliant behaviour. Using binary logistic regression analysis, the present study revealed that the safety climate and the vessel workers’ age were positively related to safety compliance, whereas job experience and perceived procedure vagueness were negatively related to safety compliance. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. In sum, the findings indicate that shipowners, captains and other stakeholders within the offshore service vessel industry should consider a broad multi-factorial approach to increase safety compliance.

Notes

1. A procedure is in general a detailed guide to action, describing the steps to be followed, and in what order in a recurring situation or problem. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are written procedures aiming at standardizing general activities (Cook 1998).

2. The corresponding author can be contacted in order to receive the complete questionnaire.

3. The relatively low percentage of respondents above 60 years old is because many offshore service vessel workers can retire at the age of 60 years and receive a maritime worker’s pension.

4. All analyses were conducted with SPSS 18.0 software.