Filipino Cadets’ Attitudes and Expectations Toward Safety in Work at Sea

Abstract

The majority of seafarers employed within the Norwegian-controlled fleet are from the Philippines. Consequently, the Norwegian Shipowners' Association (NSA) initiated a training program in the Philippines for Filipino cadets. In order to match the training with cadets’ needs, a study was conducted to map their attitudes toward and expectations of safety at sea. The study explores two research questions: (1) What are the NSA cadets’ attitudes toward and expectations of safety at sea? (2) How do the cadets with shipboard training differ from the cadets without shipboard training? Data were derived from a survey carried out in 2012, in which 618 responses were collected from two maritime educational institutions belonging to the NSA Cadet Program. The data were subjected to explorative factor analysis and independent t-tests in order to compare two groups—namely, cadets with or without seafaring experience. The results suggested that the Filipino cadets’ attitudes toward operational safety are, overall, in line with the NSA and they have high expectations toward ship management in relation to safety. One of the most interesting findings is in relation to the factor violation of safety rules. Between 36% and 53% stated that it is acceptable to violate safety rules if others do, if the captain demands it or if doing so improves the quality of their work. It is suggested that shipping companies, through their local ship management, place more emphasis on these attitudes toward the violation of safety rules.