Safety culture and hazard risk perception of Australian and New Zealand maritime pilots

Abstract

A survey of the safety culture and hazard risk perception has been carried out involving 77 maritime pilots around Australia and New Zealand, representing more than the 20% of the maritime pilots in each country, in proportional geographic distribution. In 82% of the cases, interviews were carried out face-to-face, based on a questionnaire designed to be completed in less than 1 hour. Questions on 4 different aspects were asked, relating to each pilot’s professional background, safety culture and perception of risks, navigation and pilotage hazards and their perception of the pilot’s role. The responses indicated that there are issues with regulator identification, commercial pressures on pilots in some locations, incident reporting mechanisms and feedback, training opportunities and improved bridge resource management. In addition to reviewing comments made by pilots, the paper also presents recommendations for consideration in improving operational performance and safety of navigation in ports and regulated waterways. These recommendations can be used by regulators to improve their performance concerning pilotage matters and understand pilots’ concerns.