Safety Management Assessment System (SMAS): a process for identifying and evaluating human and organization factors in marine system operations with field test results

Eighty percent or more of major marine accidents are caused or influenced by humans and organizations. Research has identified characteristics of high reliability organizations (HRO), organizations which have had few accidents while involved in operations where failure would result in severe consequences. These characteristics have important effects on the safety of marine systems. Assessing systems for these HRO characteristics is the first step in reducing accidents caused by human and organization factors (HOF). The Safety Management Assessment System (SMAS) was developed specifically to assess marine systems (offshore platforms, marine terminals, ships) for HOF. SMAS is a screening method that selects and trains operators of the system to conduct a self-assessment. The assessment process takes five days and has the assessors making comparisons and evaluating HOF by selecting ranges and providing comments to capture the uncertainty. Included in the process is a visit to the system. A computer program was developed to assist in the assessment process. A field test of SMAS was conducted at a marine terminal in California. Two teams, with members from the terminal and the regulatory agency, along with a facilitator, were selected and trained. These two independent teams conducted separate evaluations on the same marine terminal. A comparison of their assessments showed that the use of ranges and comments were very helpful. An analysis of field test data shows that SMAS can produce results more consistent than randomness. SMAS shows promise as an efficient and practical method to assess humans and organizations.