Research initiative targets worker safety

Safety is a critical objective for the offshore industry, yet truly understanding how safe operations actually are requires concrete data.

ABS initiated the Mariner Safety Research Initiative (MSRI) project in 2011, in cooperation with Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, to begin gathering accident and near-miss data directly from industry. This novel project is a collaborative effort that has created a large international database and online repository of maritime injury and close call (near-miss) reports. Maritime industry partners from around the world are participating in the MSRI, which, to date, has collected approximately 150,000 injury and close call records from 31 data sources.

Maritime industry partners from around the world are participating in the ABS Mariner Safety Research Initiative (MSRI) project, a collaborative effort that has created a large international database and online repository of maritime injury and near-miss reports. Image: copyright macor/123rf.com

Through the MSRI, information can be shared in a way that allows data to be put into usable context for owners and operators. Data submitted to the database can be analyzed to identify trends, possible causes for accidents and near misses, and lessons learned that can be used to develop benchmarking statistics and training programs.

Safely sharing data. Confidentiality agreements ensure the privacy and anonymity of participants who share their data, housed on a secure server. Partners who share data have access to these records, which they use to direct safety efforts by identifying hazards for specific spaces onboard, as well as to identify potential new hazards related to crew activities. The data also are used to support corporate safety management systems, to develop job hazard and job safety analyses, and to update and revise operating procedures. Any company willing to share information can become a partner. Once a company shares its information, it has access to the injury database, the close call database, and the MSRI Document Portal, which contains toolbox talks, ergonomic and safety discussion papers, safety spotlights, etc. All of the materials developed for the document portal are based on the data or related analyses of the injury and close call databases.

Leveraging MSRI. A common goal of the MSRI industry partners is to share findings with the maritime industry. This led to the recent launch of a public website: http://maritime.lamar.edu/. The site houses some of the information available to industry partners, including toolbox talks, safety spotlights, applied corrective actions, lessons learned, and ergonomic/safety discussion papers prepared by ABS for better understanding of frequently occurring injuries and close calls.

Industry partners have been using the databases, and the associated analysis results, to direct safety auditing efforts through the identification of hazards for specific spaces onboard. They also have used the data to identify potential new hazards related to crew activities; direct safety intervention efforts; assist with resource prioritization and allocation; provide input into safety measurements (metrics); support corporate safety management systems; support the development of job hazard analyses/safety analyses; and make updates/revisions to operating and working procedures.

A new MSRI component is the addition of ABS’ safety culture activities. In 2012, ABS published the Guidance Notes on Safety Culture and Leading Indicators of Safety for the commercial shipping sector—guidance that has received significant attention from industry and academia. The information in this Guidance Note includes questionnaires, analysis methodologies and high-level recommendations, based on the results of the questionnaires. ABS and Lamar are merging the combined safety culture survey results in the MSRI. Results include areas of excellence, opportunities for improvement, and shared free text responses between shipboard and onshore personnel. This helps companies benchmark their performances against others. As more data are developed, it is hoped that these data can be broken down even further into industry segments.

Moving offshore. Building on the success of the MSRI for shipping, ABS has set its sights on creating a similar database for safety incidents and near-misses in offshore E&P.

As an extension to the MSRI project, ABS is reaching out to the offshore E&P communities. ABS’ goal is to try and establish a similar initiative with this sector. The goals and objectives are similar to those with the well-established MSRI initiative, and include creation of an international database of injury and near-miss reports to help identify trends and possible causes, and to share lessons learned and corrective actions.

ABS has invested in the development of two new safety culture Guidance Notes: one for oil and gas exploration, and another for production. These two Guidance Notes have been drafted, and ABS is in the process of identifying several candidates to test and trial them. The objective is to validate the terminology, and different safety and performance metrics used by these two different communities.

Expansion of the MSRI initiative to oil and gas is a natural extension of the established marine database. The new initiative’s goal is the same as that of the established one—to gather accident and near-miss data directly from industry, to improve safety in offshore operations and to promote the security of life, property and the natural environment.