U.S. Coast Guard Marine Casualty Investigation and Reporting: Analysis and Recommendations for Improvement

As part of its mission to prevent and mitigate marine accidents, the U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) investigates the causes of marine casualties and analyzes investigation data in an effort to identify measures that will improve marine safety. It is estimated that 60-80% of marine casualties have human-re...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Byers, James C, Hill, Susan G, Rothblum, Anita M
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
ACCIDENTS
ACCURACY
CASUALTIES
COAST GUARD
COMPUTERS
DATA BASES
DATA PROCESSING
ERRORS
HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING
IDENTIFICATION
Information Science
INPUT
LINE OF SIGHT
MARINE ATMOSPHERES
MARINE CORPS PERSONNEL
Military Operations, Strategy and Tactics
MODULAR CONSTRUCTION
OCEAN ENVIRONMENTS
PERFORMANCE(HUMAN)
RELIABILITY
REQUIREMENTS
SAFETY
TAXONOMY
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Summary:As part of its mission to prevent and mitigate marine accidents, the U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) investigates the causes of marine casualties and analyzes investigation data in an effort to identify measures that will improve marine safety. It is estimated that 60-80% of marine casualties have human-related causes; therefore, it is important to record and analyze human errors in order to identify measures that will reduce these errors. In 1992 the USCG introduced a new casualty database, the Marine Investigations Module (MINMOD), which provided taxonomies for reporting human factors causes. The purpose of this project was to study the USCG casualty investigation process particularly with reference to the identification and reporting of human factors causes, analyze the data entry process, and make recommendations for improvements to the current computer system and the casualty investigation process. Six Marine Safety Offices (MSOs) were visited. Twenty-four Investigating Officers (lOs) and nine Senior Investigating Officers (S lOs) were interviewed. The data analysis revealed a number of problems with the collection and entry of marine casualty data in general, and human factors data in particular. The problems were discussed in terms of the requirements for an accurate and reliable database, and suggestions were made for addressing these problems. Prepared in cooperation with Idaho National Engineering Lab. Idaho Falls.