Maritime Shipping as a High Reliability Industry: A Qualitative Analysis

摘要

The maritime oil shipping industry has great public demands for safe and reliableorganizational performance. Researchers have identified a set of organizations and industries that operate at extremely high levels of reliability, and have labelled them High Reliability Organizations (HRO). Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster of 1989, public demands for HRO-level operations were placed on the oil industry. It will be demonstrated that, despite enormous improvements in safety and reliability, maritime shipping is not operating as an HRO industry. An analysis of the organizational, environmental, and cultural history of the oil industry will help to provide justification and explanation. The oil industry will be contrasted with other HRO industries and the differences will inform the shortfalls maritime shipping experiences with regard to maximizing reliability. Finally, possible solutions for the achievement of HRO status will be offered.