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Safety Culture
The concept of “safety culture” is widely referred to in the maritime industry
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) states that an organisation with a “safety culture” is one that gives appropriate priority to safety, which has to be managed like other areas of the business. The International Chamber of Shipping further defines it as
THE VALUES AND PRACTICES THAT MANAGEMENT AND PERSONNEL SHARE TO ENSURE THAT RISKS ARE ALWAYS MINIMISED AND MITIGATED TO THE GREATEST DEGREE POSSIBLE.
In essence, an effective safety culture leads to an organisation where the shared beliefs and behaviours from the top to the bottom result in all employees feeling responsible for their actions to improve safety and performance.
Despite all of the above, many casualty investigation reports still point to a lack of an established safety culture as one of the contributory factors to marine accidents. It is evident that there are challenges to the successful implementation of an effective “safety culture”. In the following paragraphs, BSafe provides material to help support seafarers to understand and embrace the general principles of safety culture.
If you have any questions or would like further advice on safety culture, then please feel free to contact us at: lossprevention@tindallriley.com
IMO – SAFETY MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY CULTURE
Understand the background of the International Safety Management Code (ISM) and why this was implemented by the IMO to help make safety culture an priority for owners and seafarers. Read more…
THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF SHIPPING – GUIDE ON SAFETY CULTURE
This guidance provides useful advice on the successful implementation of an effective safety culture, with the intention to help seafarers to fulfil the spirit as well as the letter of the ISM Code. Read more…
UK CHAMBER OF SHIPPING – GUIDE ON SAFETY CULTURE
This interesting short article provides some insights into the development and integration of a strong safety culture. Read more…
IMPROVING SAFETY AND ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE THROUGH A JUST CULTURE
The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency has published this useful document which provides further guidance on how to implement a “Just-culture” and how this can improve the organisational performance of seafarers. Read more…
The following articles have been developed by the Britannia Loss Prevention department covering topics related to “Safety Culture”:
BSAFE INCIDENT CASE STUDY 22: DRAGGING ANCHOR LEADING TO MULTIPLE COLLISIONS
A dragging anchor incident caused a general cargo ship to collide with two nearby ships, resulting in structural damage to all three ships. Fortunately, no pollution or loss of life was reported.
Published: 8 August 2023 Updated: 18 April 2024
Whereas the traditional approach to safety is typically focused on analysing past undesirable events, Safety II is based on the principle of seeking to also learn from why things mostly go right, to help further develop an effective safety culture
View Article 
Published: 11 May 2020
This helps to understand the term “Just-culture” and why this has now replaced a “No-blame” policy as an essential element when implementing an effective onboard safety culture.