| Research has shown that 80 percent of all marine accidents are caused by humans or influenced by the organization in which they operate. Identifying the human and organizational factors (HOF) that influence accidents is the first step to reducing them. The Safety Management Assessment System (SMAS) is designed to identify and evaluate HOF when used by carefully selected and trained assessors. SMAS consists of three components: (1) the SMAS assessment process, (2) a computer program, and (3) an assessor training program. The SMAS assessment process consists of four phases, one phase requires a visit to the assessed system. Seven areas are evaluated during the process: (1) Operating Team, (2) Organization, (3) Structural, (4) Equipment, (5) Procedures, (6) Environment, and (7) Interfaces among them. Each module is described by factors, and each factor has descriptive attributes. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the evaluation of factors describing the Operating Team and Organization, assessors select a range of values. These values are a Most Probable Value, a Best Value, and a Worst Value. Additionally, the assessors support their value selection with comments. Assessors use the computer program as a guide through the process and to record their evaluations. The program then compiles the information and displays it in reports. A crucial component of SMAS is the assessor. Because of this, assessor selection criteria and the training program are critical and are detailed in this dissertation. A field test of SMAS was conducted in California at a marine terminal using two independent teams. The teams assessments were very consistent. |
