Research on the Causal Chain of Marine Engine Accidents Based on HFACS

Human factors are the leading cause of accidents in ship maintenance management, and there are correlations between human-caused accident causal factors, which are likely to lead to the occurrence of related factors once they occur, thus further expanding the accident losses. In order to further analyze the process and causal mechanism of human-caused accidents in ship maintenance management, the causal factors involved in human-caused accidents are studied and the correlations between them are identified. According to the analysis of literature and accident investigation reports, the human factors of ship accidents in engine have been identified and the original HFACS model has been refined which is suitable for ship engine management. Then, the Apriori algorithm was applied to mine the association rules of the causal factors on 52 human related accident investigation reports, and to reveal the causal chains from the explicit to the implicit layers. The results show that the main cause of accidents in ship engine is not the explicit human unsafe behaviour, but the hidden factors. Inadequate human resources management and improper equipment management at the organization influence level, on the one hand, directly lead to unsafe human behaviour that leading to more accidents, and on the other hand, may indirectly impact on operational planning, maintenance and repair of equipment, and human adaptability, which will increase the incidence of accidents in ships. Good organizational management as well as strict supervision are therefore key factors in preventing human-caused accidents.