Human Factors contributed to 2 out of 3 marine incidents and casualties [Infographic 2021]

Why do incidents concerning Permit To Work tasks recur?

According to the EMSA 2019 report on “Annual overview of marine casualties and incidents 2019”, 2 out of 3 all incidents (between 2011 to 2018) were contributed by human factors. The top factors include (1) lack of safety awareness, (2) inadequate work methods, and (3) poor planning and coordination.

The Permit to Work (PTW) system is an essential part of any Ship Management System (SMS) for high-risk work onboard vessels, in compliance with the International Safety Management (ISM) Code.

PTWs are used to manage many aspects of the ship’s operations, such as ensuring procedural compliance for high-hazard jobs, reducing safety incidents, and mitigating overall risk exposure.

Even with these safeguards, incidents related to PTW tasks continue to happen at an alarming rate.