Failure of risk assessment on ships: factors affecting seafarer practices

ABSTRACT

Past analysis of marine accident investigations has revealed that inadequate risk assessment conducted on board ships lead to maritime accidents. The International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (ISM Code) provided an international standard for the safe operation of ships with risk assessment as one of the principal precepts of the Code. However, effective implementation of the process of risk management cannot be achieved without the active involvement of competent seafarers on board ships. This paper reviewed a compilation of empirical research publications regarding ship safety to infer the possible reasons for the failure of risk assessment by focusing on areas (training and competence, procedural approach, process verification, culture and organisation) that affect seafarer practices. The findings highlighted the challenges faced by the maritime industry that warrant attention at the organisational level. The challenges were classified as:

• Lack of adequate training and competency in non-technical skills;

• Failure of a procedural approach to risk management;

• Risk perceptions, attitudes, and cultural/organisational factors; and

• Process verification: lack of ownership and identification of safety objectives.

KEYWORDS:

• Risk assessment
• seafarer
• competence
• ISM Code
• safety

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Samrat Ghosh is a lecturer at the Australian Maritime College (AMC) in the University of Tasmania (UTAS). His current research focuses on investigating the impact of using authentic pedagogical practices in seafarer education and training to deliver employability skills and enhance student engagement.

Waldemar Daszuta is a Chief Engineer at the Swire Pacific Ship Management, Australia. He has been working in seagoing roles on various types of vessels, including general cargo, container, reefer, fish factory, oceanographic research, Ro-Ro and offshore. His research interests include operation and diagnostics of medium speed marine diesel engines and significance of ‘human element' in the shipping industry.

ORCID

Samrat Ghosh http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4617-6445