NTSB chairman discusses agency’s role in marine accident probes … “Accidents are not the best predictors of where the problems in the system are,” he said. “This is why it’s good to have a data collection system… some sort of operational monitoring program is very important, instant reporting systems to find out where the problems are.” This could be done in the marine industry, he said.

Creating a strong safety culture within a company is essential. “Safety has to start at the top of an organization and permeate the entire organization,” the chairman said. “People understand if someone is deeply committed, and they’re going to watch you.”

He encourages developing a “just culture” that is based on fairness. “If someone reports an honest error, what will you do? A lot (of managers) would punish that person. But you should praise that person and thank them for telling. If you punish people for making mistakes, your information flow will dry up, so you’re not going to know anything because (employees) are going to conceal it. A just culture will reward reporting honest mistakes. On the other hand, if someone arrives drunk or willfully violates a procedure, you can’t tolerate that.” A company will thrive when its culture encourages employees to report problems, he said.

Sumwalt said companies should be asking themselves three questions: how strong is our safety culture, are we living our values, and are we providing safety leadership. …