Page 57: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2022)

“Understanding how organizational culture impacts safety and the use of precise forecasts that help to prevent accidents relies on unique, high-volume data.”

Dr. Torkel Soma, Chief Scientif c Of cer, SAYFR

Image Courtesy SAYFR and data analysis. The evaluation of but the root cause of the problem – i.e. two independent measurements per- organizational culture relies on inter- human neglect, whether cultural or cir- formed at the same time. An increase in views, observations and questionnaires cumstantial – was not factored in. the ability to manage failures, for ex- applying psychometric instruments that ample, will necessarily correlate with are tailor-made to ensure valid and reli- Reliability through Data the number of incidents that occur. able results. The professionals drive the Reliability of the survey instrument Construct validity is when a theoreti- process while the data provides the re- is also key and that is ensured statisti- cal model of cause and effect – for ex- sults. As a consequence, the more and cally by use of data. Factor-analysis is a ample, do the improvements prescribed better the data on these topics, the more statistical method used to describe vari- following appraisal of the 8SLBs – ac- valid, reliable and to-the-point are the ability among correlated items in terms curately replicate the real-world sce- results. However not all the instruments of a potentially lower number of unob- narios they are intended to represent? used in the industry are valid and reli- served variables, called factors. For our Construct validity is the ultimate va- able. In a recent review of safety cul- instrument, the eight factors are equal to lidity measurement, and necessarily ture maturity instruments, only 3 of 43 the eight SAYFR leadership behaviours incorporates all other validity factors. instruments were valid. Indeed, there is (8SLBs) mentioned above.

not one single test alone that can dem- Moreover, predictive validity is the Cutting Frequency of Accidents onstrate the validity of a survey instru- instrument’s ability to predict some- Also, it’s not only the psychometric ment. Therefore, SAYFR has developed thing in the future such as an event, instruments that rely on data. The use tailor-made psychometric instruments to or correlations with instrument mea- of digitalization, the internet of things assess these topics and has a database of surements made by other instruments. (IoT), sensor data, machine learning, responses from about 300 000 seafarers. If an organization scores low in terms and big data has picked up in recent

When it comes to the qualitative and of the 8SLBs, it is a good indicator of years. The idea is that those with the quantitative tests that can be made to future problems. This has been shown most data can create the best analytics verify validity, the basic one is content on a number of occasions when depart- and forecasts. With the use of more qual- validity. This dictates how well a safety ments, units or suborganizations have ity data, risk assessments and worst-case instrument addresses a safety issue. It received low 8SLB scores only to have scenario simulations provide reliable speci? es that the survey instrument ade- accidents occur in the intervening time, predictions and identify effective inter- quately covers the topic being studied as before action was taken. Predictive va- ventions to prevent accidents. In short, well as having sound scienti? c grounds lidity can also be applied to solutions. what we at SAYFR see is that the best and references. This is important be- When action was taken based upon a shipowners and operators have a proac- cause so many historical examples show low 8SLBs score, a shipping company tive organizational culture that goes be- risks that were identi? ed well ahead of experienced a 60% reduction in the fre- yond ticking the ‘compliance boxes’ and time but were not addressed. These in- quency of serious accidents, to a level instead applies a collaborative, trusting clude the Deepwater Horizon blowout, which was maintained ? ve years subse- approach from top to bottom in the com- which claimed 11 lives and caused huge quent to the investigation. Concurrent pany’s organization. This also includes environmental damage, rig personnel validity and construct validity are also assessing culture using valid and reli- had knowingly by-passed safety barri- important elements. Concurrent valid- able survey instruments. This is what ers. In this case, failures were identi? ed ity measures the correlation between really helps to improve safety.

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