Rolf Johan Bye

Professional culture and risk perception: Coping with danger on board small fishing boats and offshore service vessels

Abstract This paper discusses the relationships between subjective risk perception and individuals’ adaptation to high-risk working conditions. It is based on a study carried out among personnel on offshore service vessels in the North Sea and Norwegian fishermen. Risk perception, fatality rates and the discrepancy between subjective risk perception and formal risk levels are compared. The results of these comparisons are discussed by using the concept of culture, and indicate that a correlation between formal risk estimation and subjective perception does not necessarily exist. In fact, subjective risk perception may be seen as a reflection of interactional conventions developed among employees dealing with their working conditions, more than as a reflection of the formal estimated risk level.

National culture and safe work practice — A comparison between Filipinos and Norwegian seafaring professionals

This paper discuss the apparently differences in occupational accidents between Norwegian and Filipino seafarers. This difference is explained by using the concepts of national culture and work practice. The Norwegian cultural system emphasise the work performance in it self. The Filipino seafarers incorporate the obligations towards the family into their daily life on board. This cultural difference seems to have unintentional effects on the rate of occupational accidents.

Maritime navigation accidents and risk indicators: An exploratory statistical analysis using AIS data and accident reports

Abstract This paper presents the results of statistical analyses of maritime accidents data and AIS data from Norwegian waters, to identify conditions that are associated with navigation related accidents (groundings and collisions) and could be used as risk indicators. Vessels involved in accidents reported in the accident database of the Norwegian Maritime Directorate (NMA), have been traced in historical AIS records, and data related to each ship have been transformed into variables. These variables are related to the behavior of the ship in front of the accident (e.g. nautical miles sailed, hours in operations, number of port calls etc.), technical and organizational conditions (ship categories, flag state, age, gross tonnage, Paris MoU ratings etc.) and the area where the accident occurred (number of vessels in the area, port calls in the area, nautical miles in the area etc.). Both the AIS data and the data from the NMA accident database have first been analyzed using correspondence analysis (categorical variables), F-tests (continuous variables), and then combined in a multivariate logistic regression model with “navigation accidents” and “other accidents” as dependent variables. The model is a strong predictor for whether the accident is navigation-related or not. Specifically, some vessel types, less vessel length, poor visibility condition, and a flag of convenience increased this probability.

Alienation as an Explanatory Factor for Increased Risk on Service Vessels in the North Sea

Our main purpose with this study was to explain why personnel on service vessels in the North Sea have been more accident prone than other personnel groups in the Norwegian oil industry