Brian Craig's presentation from 2017 TRB Ferry Transportation and Marine Safety and Human Factors Committees Joint Mid-Year Meeting

1. © 2017 American Bureau of Shipping. All rights reserved
ABS Mariner Safety
Research Initiatives
Dr. Brian Craig| May 12, 2017
TRB Human Element Working Group – Ferry Safety
Conference

2. Safety Culture and Leading
Indicators of Safety
2 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative

3. • Purpose: to enable organizations with cargo-carrying
vessels to self-assess their safety culture and leading
indicators of safety
• Contents:
- How to administer the survey
- Actual safety culture questionnaire
- Definition of safety factors
- How to perform data analyses
- Lists of potential objective and subjective
leading indicators
- How to interpret the results
- How to develop an action plan
3 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Safety Culture/Leading Indicators of Safety

4. • 40 Statements/Questions (in 3 Sections)
- Ship safety
- Health and safety
- Survey respondent’s own job
• 8 Safety Factors (5 per Safety Factor)
- Communication (COM)
- Empowerment (EMP)
- Feedback (FDB)
- Mutual Trust (MTR)
- Problem Identification (PID)
- Promotion of Safety/Leadership (POS)
- Responsiveness (RSP)
- Safety Awareness (SAW)
• Demographics
• Free-Text and Optional Questions
4 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Survey (Shipboard and Shore-Side)
© snapinadil / Shutterstock

5. • Shipboard vs. Shore-side analysis:
- Crew responses
- Shore-side responses
- Between group difference
• Demographic Analysis:
- Age
- Gender
- Nationality
- Job position
- Experience
• Within groups analysis
• Qualitative analysis of the
free-text question responses
5 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Safety Culture: Analysis Types

6. • Survey responses receive a
score Disagree = 1 to Agree = 5
• The ABS SC questionnaire
contains forty (40) 5-scale
questions
6 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Safety Culture Survey: Scoring
MTR = Mutual Trust COM = Communication POS = Promotion of Safety
1 2 3 4 5
Disagree Neutral Agree
Red for a less neutral
response (less than 4.0)
Yellow for a neutral response
(between 4.0 and 4.5)
Green for a positive response (4.5-5.0)

7. Question
Average
Response
Safety
Factor
• I fully understand my responsibilities for health
and safety
4.96 MTR
• Crew members are actively encouraged to
improve safety
4.94 EMP
• I always ask questions if I don’t understand the
instructions given to me, or I am unsure of the
relevant safety precautions
4.94 COM
• Safety is the top priority for crew onboard this
ship
4.94 SAW
• The crew has access to all necessary personal
protective equipment (PPE)
4.92 RSP
7 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Areas of Excellence: Shipboard
MTR = Mutual Trust EMP = Empowerment
COM = Communication SAW = Safety Awareness
RSP = Responsiveness

8. Question
Average
Response
Safety
Factor
• Shore-side managers never put schedule or
costs above safety
3.85 POS
• Language differences in multi-cultural crews
are not a threat to safety
4.11 COM
• There are no differences in the performance
of crew members from different cultures
4.24 MTR
• An effective anonymous reporting system
exists in this company
4.49 COM
• This company has excellent maintenance
standards
4.49 POS
8 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Opportunities for Improvement: Shipboard
MTR = Mutual Trust POS = Promotion of Safety COM = Communication

9. Question
Average
Response
Safety
Factor
• There are no differences in the performance of
seafarers from different cultures
3.40 MTR
• Language differences in multi-cultural crews are
not a threat to safety
3.43 COM
• An effective anonymous reporting system
exists in this company
3.80 COM
• Shore-side managers never put schedule
or costs above safety
3.87 POS
• Mistakes are corrected without punishment
and treated as a learning opportunity
4.01 MTR
9 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Opportunities for Improvement: Shore-Side
MTR = Mutual Trust POS = Promotion of Safety COM = Communication

10. Question
Average
Shipboard
Average
Shore-side
Diff.
Safety
Factor
• There are no differences in the performance
of crew members from different cultures
4.24 3.40 21% MTR
• Watch hand-overs are thorough and not
hurried
4.80 4.05 17% SAW
• If I am interrupted whilst carrying out a task,
I carefully check what I did, or start again,
before resuming the task
4.90 4.20 15% PID
• An effective anonymous reporting system
exists in this company
4.49 3.80 17% COM
• I am always informed about the outcome of
shipboard meetings that address health and
safety
4.88 4.20 15% FDB
10 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Largest Differences Between Questions
MTR = Mutual Trust PID = Problem Identification
COM = Communication SAW = Safety Awareness
FDB = Feedback

11. 11 | Title of Presentation Goes Here
SC Benchmarking Example: Shipboard
Question
XXXX
Response
CSCD
Response
Safety
Factor
• Shore-side managers never put
schedule or costs above safety
3.66 3.85 POS
• Language differences in multi-cultural
crews are not a threat to safety
3.88 4.11 COM
• There are no differences in the
performance of seafarers from
different cultures
4.11 4.24 MTR
• Mistakes are corrected without
punishment and treated as a learning
opportunity
4.67 4.59 MTR
• People are hired for their ability and
willingness to work safely
4.69 4.69 MTR
MTR = Mutual Trust COM = Communication
POS = Promotion of Safety
• XXXX Results vs. ABS’ Combined Safety Culture Dataset (CSCD)

12. Values A/B D/CDT MASTER
CHF/
OFF
CHF/
ENG
2/OFF E/CDT
ORD/
SEA
# of Responses 474 236 232 214 201 197 197 191
2. Shore-side managers never
put schedule or costs above
safety
3.90 3.81 3.77 3.64 3.83 3.65 3.75 3.86
6. This company has excellent
maintenance standards
4.62 4.59 4.24 4.14 4.39 4.34 4.58 4.63
8. People are hired for their
ability and willingness to work
safely
4.81 4.70 4.29 4.40 4.43 4.55 4.71 4.82
9. Language differences in
multi-cultural crews are not a
threat to
4.19 4.03 3.90 3.81 4.00 3.74 4.29 4.20
10. There are no differences in
the performance of crew
members from different cultures
4.36 4.30 3.75 3.90 4.06 3.94 4.37 4.31
Overall Response Average 4.37 4.28 3.99 3.98 4.14 4.04 4.34 4.36
12 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Traffic Light Snapshot of Results
What is your position aboard ship?

13. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1 2 3 4 5
Master
Average = 3.90 (n = 42)
• Shipboard Question 8: People are hired for their ability and willingness
to work safely
- The overall average for this question was 4.69 (green), but masters (3.9)
and chief engineers (4.1) responded significantly more negatively
13 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Significant Subgroup/within Group Differences
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 2 3 4 5
Chief Engineer
Average = 4.13 (n = 39)

14. • Training/instruction (for new crew, before changing jobs, hands-on/drills,
and in general refresher training)
- Safety training while on shore leave also mentioned
• Increased safety meetings and publications
• Increase safety communications and communication in general
(onboard and ship to shore)
• Implement a no blame culture
• Improve safety culture
• “Close the loop”/effective
communication on ships/shore
safety issues
• Keep crews up to date on
company and regulatory issues
14 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Shipboard/Shore-side: Shared Themes
© KAMONRAT/Shutterstock

15. • PPE (condition, availability, appropriateness, and not be
shared by multiple crewmembers)
• Adhere to work/rest schedules
• Hire quality people
• Follow standard language (English) for communication
• Crew needs adequate grasp of English
• Food quality (healthy), health checks
• Safety mentorship
• Larger crew, Wi-Fi / Internet
• Generally, around half the survey respondents offered
comments on how to improve safety - This indicates that
the seafarers are engaged
Shipboard: Common Themes
40 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative

16. • Opportunities for consideration:
- Increase incident and near miss reporting
- Evaluate corporate safety policies including overall
culture
- Increased seafarer engagement in safety issues
- Corporate workshops/seminars to raise H&S awareness
• Comments that this SC survey is a big step in establishing
a safety culture within the company
• Generally, around half the survey respondents offered
comments on how to improve safety - This indicates that
the seafarers are engaged
Shore-Side: Common Themes
41 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative

17. • Areas of focus for consideration:
- The least positive shipboard safety factors
• Promotion of safety
• Communication
• Mutual trust
- The least positive shore-side
safety factors
• Communication
• Mutual trust
• Empowerment
• Safety awareness
• Problem identification
17 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Next Steps for Safety Culture Activities
© curraheeshutter/Shutterstock

18. • Objective Leading Indicators are identified by correlating:
- Safety metrics with safety performance data
- 5+ years of safety metrics and safety performance data required
(more years for delayed response analyses) for organizational level
analysis
- 12+ months for BU or vessel level analysis
• Subjective Leading Indicators are identified by correlating:
- Survey responses with safety performance data
• Performance Data
- Ship Safety e.g., operational incidents
frequency
- Individual H&S e.g., total recordable
case frequency
- Port State Detentions
18 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Identifying Leading Indicators
© tantawat / Shutterstock

19. • Baseline Metrics
- Typically expressed as absolutes (presence/absence of an activity)
• Subsidiary Metrics
- Useful until they peak, often expressed as percentages
• Percentage of crew who have PPE and requisite training
• Core Metrics
- Continue to vary in a mature safety culture
• Number of safety audit recommendations
• Recommendation close-out times
• Size of safety budgets
• Number of JHAs conducted
19 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
The Metrics Hierarchy

20. • Subjective Leading Indicators
- Employee perception about management support of safety
improvements efforts
- Employee empowerment to fulfill safety responsibilities
- Management response to safety issues and concerns
• Objective Leading Indicators
- Number of near miss reports submitted
percent closed-out
- Time to implement corrective actions
- Size of safety budgets
- Number of safety meetings involving
senior management
- Number of incidents/near misses
followed by incident investigations
20 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Additional Potential Leading Indicators
© macor / 123rf.com

21. 21 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Example Leading Indicators Results
Number of Safety Meetings vs. RWAF

22. • Ownership (and understanding) of the leading indicators
and safety culture methods
• Provides company specific information to help in improving
safety performance
• Innovative statistical approach to identifying leading
indicators from metrics or safety culture from surveys
• Approach allows for benchmarking
22 | ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative
Benefits of this Approach

23. © 2017 American Bureau of Shipping. All rights reserved
www.eagle.org
Thank You