Safety Culture and Operational Performance Among Philippine Seafarers: A Maritime Safety Management Perspective

Abstract

The Philippines is the world's leading supplier of seafarers, yet the relationship between safety culture and operational performance among Filipino seafarers remains underexplored. This study assessed the level of safety culture and its influence on operational performance among Philippine seafarers in the context of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code and the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) Convention. Using a descriptive-correlational research design, data were collected from 210 Filipino seafarers holding officer and rating ranks currently serving on international and domestic vessels. A structured questionnaire measured safety culture across six dimensions: management commitment, safety training, incident reporting, risk awareness, regulatory compliance, and safety procedures. Findings revealed that safety culture was rated moderately high overall, with management commitment receiving the highest mean and non-punitive incident reporting the lowest. Operational performance was positively and significantly correlated with safety culture (r = 0.685, p < 0.001), indicating that stronger safety culture is associated with better operational outcomes. Multiple regression analysis showed that management commitment, regulatory compliance, and safety procedures were the strongest predictors of operational performance. The study highlights persistent challenges in underreporting, fatigue management, and cultural barriers to safety communication, and proposes recommendations for strengthening safety culture through targeted training, just culture frameworks, and enhanced regulatory enforcement.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.