Identification and implementation of key performance indicators (KPIs) for achieving safer and resilient passengers shipping operations

The consequences of undesired events in the maritime industry have raised significant awareness of the dangers of shipping. The international regulatory bodies and associations have developed key rules and regulations to mitigate the risk of accidents and ensure maritime safety. It is known that the underlying reasons for the majority of these accidents are attributable to human and organizational factors. Even though numerous safety culture/climate assessments are performed to gain insight into safety related human attitudes and behaviors to improve the level of safety, there is also the requirement to perform proactive assessments to gain a complete understanding in a shipping company. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are utilized in several domains, with the purpose of taking proactive measures to develop intervention strategies for the organizational problems and make shipping operations more resilient. Organizations can identify significant relationships between their operational data and safety performance by monitoring KPIs and experience data. For passenger shipping companies there is a special requirement to develop a high reliability culture to ensure the safety and security of their passengers. The intention of this research is to determine which leading KPIs have a crucial impact on enhancing the safety of passenger shipping. In order to achieve this, a case study will be conducted in a passenger shipping company. An initial workshop elicits experts’ opinions on critical safety performance indicators. Relation-ships are identified by correlating safety indicators and safety performance data. KPIs will be correlated at three levels, namely, safety management and ship level. Statistically significant KPIs which are proven to have positive contribution on the companies’ overall safety will be identified and relevant strategies with associated action plans will be developed