Measuring Safety Climate in Shipping Companies

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the safety climate in the Finnish maritime sector. Maritime industry can be considered as one of the most dangerous industries in the world. Thus, there is a need for constantly focus on safety in maritime industry. It is commonly accepted that by strengthening safety climate the overall level of safety is improved.

The Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50) was applied in this in this study. The NOSACQ-50 safety climate survey was carried out in eight maritime organisations in Finland. Total number of respondents was 402. The response rate was 52%.

The study indicated rather positive results about the current level of safety climate. The average scores for NOSACQ-50 dimensions varied between 3.0 and 3.4. Regarding the strength of the safety climate, no significant differences between organizations were identified in any dimension in this study. 

It was a little surprise that, contrary to the previous studies, this study indicated rather positive results about the current level of safety climate. However, the results should be taken only as indicative results about the current safety level of the entire Finnish shipping industry.

The survey tool enables comparisons of the safety climate dimensions between occupational groups and between shipping companies. A conclusion could be drawn on that that the maritime organisations and the authorities would benefit if the safety climate surveys will be carried out at the regular intervals.