Regressive safety practices in the globalised shipping industry

Suresh Bhardwaj, null

doi:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.8.1.0022

ScienceOpen: research and publishing network

For Publishers

For Researchers

Blog
About

Search
Advanced search

209

views

recommends

Call for Papers: Hierarchies of domesticity – spatial and social boundaries. Deadline for submissions is 30^th September, 2024. Full details can be read here.

Articles to be no longer than 6,000 words (excluding footnotes and bibliography) and submitted in two forms: an anonymised version in which all references to the authors’ institution and publications are omitted; and a full version including the authors’ titles and institutional affiliations. For complete instructions on style, formatting, etc., please consult: https://www.plutojournals.com/wp-content/uploads/WOLG-Instructions-for-Authors2023.pdf

scite_

Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 8, Issue 1

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Regressive safety practices in the globalised shipping industry

research-article

Author(s): Suresh Bhardwaj

Publication date (Print): Summer 2014

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Bookmark

Abstract

The highly fragmented structure of the globalised shipping industry necessitates a regulatory-driven environment for its basic administration. This is a highly safety-critical industry, but regulatory updates only take place after an accident has taken place, based on a retrospective analysis of incidents and accident investigations. This leads to the goal of avoiding the recurrence of past incidents (and arguably newer occurrences too) through regulatory updates of the instruments of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). This paper highlights the limitations of such an approach and shows how existing health and safety practices in the shipping industry are inadequate to cope with work environments that are changing rapidly as a result of economic and technological pressures. Paradoxically, while safety requires attention to how workers negotiate risks and uncertainties in everyday practice, in the contemporary shipping industry workers are increasingly denied the opportunities for socialisation, rest and organisational support that make such negotiation possible. As a consequence, interpretations of accidents by ‘experts’ as matters of human error by the crew acquire the status of fact, further compounding the disempowered position of workers. This leads to a general downward spiral in safety practices. The paper draws on an exhaustive review of the relevant literature as well as empirical evidence obtained from interviews. It critiques the current operational definition of safety in the industry and concludes that the progress the shipping industry believes it is making, mainly, at present, through technology integration, is tardy and may even be regressive and counterproductive.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Summer 2014

Volume: 8

Issue: 1

Pages: 22-36

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.8.1.0022

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.8.1.0022

SO-VID: 5ef169c8-d6ee-4deb-812c-c6e35d0b64f1

License:

All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

Baker, C.C. & D.B. McCafferty (2005) ‘Accident database review of human element concerns: What do the results mean for classification?’ Proceedings from the conference Human Factors in Ship Design and Operation’, Royal Institution of Naval Architects, UK.
Barnett, M., D. Gatfield & C. Pekcan (2006) Non-technical skills: the vital ingredient in world maritime technology? IMarEST. Accessed on 29th June 2014 from: http://www.he-alert.org/documents/published/he00515.pdf.
Bhardwaj, S. (2013) Challenges and potential of technology integration in modern ship management practices , PhD Thesis, University of Plymouth, UK. Accessed on 14th June 2014 from: http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2840.
Bhattacharya, S. (2009) The Impact of the ISM Code on the management of occupational health and safety in the marine industry , PhD thesis, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK.
Bhattacharya, S. (2012) ‘Sociological factors influencing the practice of incident reporting: the case of the shipping industry’, Employee Relations , 34 (1):4–21.
Denzin, N.K. & Y.S. Lincoln (2007) Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials , Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Sage.
DeSombre, E. (2008) ‘Globalisation, competition and convergence: Shipping and the race to the middle’, Global Governance , (14):179–198.
Guttal, S. (2007) Globalisation, Development in practice , 17 (4–5):523–531.
Havold, J. I. (2000) ‘Culture in maritime safety’, Maritime Policy and Management , 27(1):79–88.
Heinrich, H.W. (1931) Industrial Accident Prevention , New York, NY.: McGraw Hill.
Hoffman, J. & S. Kumar (2010) ‘Globalisation: the maritime nexus’, C.T. Grammenos (ed) The Handbook of Maritime Economics and Business . London: Informa Professional.
Hollnagel, E. (2008) ‘Investigation as an impediment to learning’, E. Hollnagel, C.P. Nemeth & S.W.A. Dekker (eds) Remaining sensitive to the possibility of failure, Resilience Engineering Perspectives , vol 1, Alderton: Ashgate:259–268.
Huws, U. (2010) ‘Between a rock and a hard place: the shaping of employment in a global economy’, Work organisation, labour and globalisation , 4(1):1–7.
ICAO (1993) Human factors digest No. 7: investigation of human factors in accidents and incidents . (ICAO Circular 240-AN/144) Montreal, Canada: International Civil Aviation Organization.
Institute Time Clauses – Hull. (1983) 6.0 Perils . Accessed on 17th May 2014 from: http://www.rhlg.com/pdfs/guidetohullclaims0703.pdf
Lutzhoft, M. H. & S.W.A. Dekker (2002) ‘On Your Watch: Automation on the Bridge’, Journal of Navigation , 55(1):83–96.
MAIB (2001) Marine Accident Investigation Branch Annual Report, 2001 . Accessed on 1st May 2014 from: www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources/annual%20report%202001.pdf.
Macrae, C. (2009) ‘Human factors at sea: common patterns of error in groundings and collisions’, Maritime Policy and Management , 36 (1):21–38.
MCA, (2006) MCA RP545: Development of guidance for the mitigation of human error in automated ship borne maritime systems , Maritime and Coastguard Agency, UK.
Morash, E.A. & S.R. Clinton (1997) ‘The role of transportation capabilities in international supply chain management’, Transportation Journal , 37 (1).
NTSB, (1997) Grounding of the Panamanian Passenger Ship Royal Majesty on Rose and Crown Shoal near Nantucket, Massachusetts , Marine Accident Report. National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, D.C., USA.
Opdenakker, R. (2006). ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research’, Forum: Qualitative Social Research , 7 (4), Art. 11. Accessed on 26th April 2014 from: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/175/391.
Progoulaki, M. and Roe, M. (2011) ‘Dealing with multicultural human resources in a socially responsible manner: a focus on the maritime industry’, WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs , 10: 7–23.
Reason, J. (1990) Human error , Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press.
Senders, J.W. & P.M. Neville (1991) Human error: cause, prediction, and reduction , New Jersey, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Schroder-Hinrichs, J., E. Hollnagel & M. Baldauf (2012) ‘From Titanic to Costa Concordia – a century of lessons not learnt’, WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs , 11:151–167.
Sharma, K. K. (2008) ‘Integrative approach to services management: A study of global ship management’, paper presented at the 1 0th International Research Seminar in Service Management, La Londe, France. Accessed on 28th June, 2014 from: http://www.cerog.org/lalondeCB/SM/2008_lalonde_seminar/Papers/S2-3-2_SHARMA_Integrative_approach_to_sces_management.pdf.
Stiglitz, J. (2002) ‘Employment, social justice, and societal well-being’, International Labour Review , 141 (1–2):9–29.
Strauch, B. (2004) Investigating human error: incidents, accidents, and complex systems , Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
UNCTAD, (2013) Review of Maritime Transport , New York and Geneva: UNCTAD Secretariat.
Wiegmann, D.A. & S.A. Shapell (2003) A human error approach to aviation accident analysis: The human factors analysis and classification system . Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
Wiener, J.B. (2004) ‘The regulation of technology and the technology of regulation’, Technology in Society , 26:483–500.
Wynne, B. (1988) ‘Unruly technology: Practical Rules, Impractical Discourses and Public Understanding’, Social Studies of Science , 18 (1):147–167.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Baker, C.C. & D.B. McCafferty (2005) ‘Accident database review of human element concerns: What do the results mean for classification?’ Proceedings from the conference Human Factors in Ship Design and Operation’, Royal Institution of Naval Architects, UK.

[2] Barnett, M., D. Gatfield & C. Pekcan (2006) Non-technical skills: the vital ingredient in world maritime technology? IMarEST. Accessed on 29th June 2014 from: http://www.he-alert.org/documents/published/he00515.pdf.

[3] Bhardwaj, S. (2013) Challenges and potential of technology integration in modern ship management practices , PhD Thesis, University of Plymouth, UK. Accessed on 14th June 2014 from: http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2840.

[4] Bhattacharya, S. (2009) The Impact of the ISM Code on the management of occupational health and safety in the marine industry , PhD thesis, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK.

[5] Bhattacharya, S. (2012) ‘Sociological factors influencing the practice of incident reporting: the case of the shipping industry’, Employee Relations , 34 (1):4–21.

[6] Denzin, N.K. & Y.S. Lincoln (2007) Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials , Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Sage.

[7] DeSombre, E. (2008) ‘Globalisation, competition and convergence: Shipping and the race to the middle’, Global Governance , (14):179–198.

[8] Guttal, S. (2007) Globalisation, Development in practice , 17 (4–5):523–531.

[9] Havold, J. I. (2000) ‘Culture in maritime safety’, Maritime Policy and Management , 27(1):79–88.

[10] Heinrich, H.W. (1931) Industrial Accident Prevention , New York, NY.: McGraw Hill.

[11] Hoffman, J. & S. Kumar (2010) ‘Globalisation: the maritime nexus’, C.T. Grammenos (ed) The Handbook of Maritime Economics and Business . London: Informa Professional.

[12] Hollnagel, E. (2008) ‘Investigation as an impediment to learning’, E. Hollnagel, C.P. Nemeth & S.W.A. Dekker (eds) Remaining sensitive to the possibility of failure, Resilience Engineering Perspectives , vol 1, Alderton: Ashgate:259–268.

[13] Huws, U. (2010) ‘Between a rock and a hard place: the shaping of employment in a global economy’, Work organisation, labour and globalisation , 4(1):1–7.

[14] ICAO (1993) Human factors digest No. 7: investigation of human factors in accidents and incidents . (ICAO Circular 240-AN/144) Montreal, Canada: International Civil Aviation Organization.

[15] Institute Time Clauses – Hull. (1983) 6.0 Perils . Accessed on 17th May 2014 from: http://www.rhlg.com/pdfs/guidetohullclaims0703.pdf

[16] Lutzhoft, M. H. & S.W.A. Dekker (2002) ‘On Your Watch: Automation on the Bridge’, Journal of Navigation , 55(1):83–96.

[17] MAIB (2001) Marine Accident Investigation Branch Annual Report, 2001 . Accessed on 1st May 2014 from: www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources/annual%20report%202001.pdf.

[18] Macrae, C. (2009) ‘Human factors at sea: common patterns of error in groundings and collisions’, Maritime Policy and Management , 36 (1):21–38.

[19] MCA, (2006) MCA RP545: Development of guidance for the mitigation of human error in automated ship borne maritime systems , Maritime and Coastguard Agency, UK.

[20] Morash, E.A. & S.R. Clinton (1997) ‘The role of transportation capabilities in international supply chain management’, Transportation Journal , 37 (1).

[21] NTSB, (1997) Grounding of the Panamanian Passenger Ship Royal Majesty on Rose and Crown Shoal near Nantucket, Massachusetts , Marine Accident Report. National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, D.C., USA.

[22] Opdenakker, R. (2006). ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research’, Forum: Qualitative Social Research , 7 (4), Art. 11. Accessed on 26th April 2014 from: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/175/391.

[23] Progoulaki, M. and Roe, M. (2011) ‘Dealing with multicultural human resources in a socially responsible manner: a focus on the maritime industry’, WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs , 10: 7–23.

[24] Reason, J. (1990) Human error , Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press.

[25] Senders, J.W. & P.M. Neville (1991) Human error: cause, prediction, and reduction , New Jersey, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

[26] Schroder-Hinrichs, J., E. Hollnagel & M. Baldauf (2012) ‘From Titanic to Costa Concordia – a century of lessons not learnt’, WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs , 11:151–167.

[27] Sharma, K. K. (2008) ‘Integrative approach to services management: A study of global ship management’, paper presented at the 1 0th International Research Seminar in Service Management, La Londe, France. Accessed on 28th June, 2014 from: http://www.cerog.org/lalondeCB/SM/2008_lalonde_seminar/Papers/S2-3-2_SHARMA_Integrative_approach_to_sces_management.pdf.

[28] Stiglitz, J. (2002) ‘Employment, social justice, and societal well-being’, International Labour Review , 141 (1–2):9–29.

[29] Strauch, B. (2004) Investigating human error: incidents, accidents, and complex systems , Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

[30] UNCTAD, (2013) Review of Maritime Transport , New York and Geneva: UNCTAD Secretariat.

[31] Wiegmann, D.A. & S.A. Shapell (2003) A human error approach to aviation accident analysis: The human factors analysis and classification system . Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.

[32] Wiener, J.B. (2004) ‘The regulation of technology and the technology of regulation’, Technology in Society , 26:483–500.

[33] Wynne, B. (1988) ‘Unruly technology: Practical Rules, Impractical Discourses and Public Understanding’, Social Studies of Science , 18 (1):147–167.