In the shipping industry, it is well known that around 80 % or more of all marine accidents are caused fully or at least in part by human error. In this regard, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) stated that the study of human factors would be important for improving maritime safety. Consequently, the IMO adopted the Casualty Investigation Code, including guidelines to assist investigators in the implementation of the Code, to prevent similar accidents occurring again in the future. In this paper, a process of the human factors investigation is proposed to provide investigators with a guide for determining the occurrence sequence of marine accidents, to identify and classify human error-inducing underlying factors, and to develop safety actions that can manage the risk of marine accidents. Also, an application of these investigation procedures to a collision accident is provided as a case study This is done to verify the applicability of the proposed human factors investigation procedures. The proposed human factors investigation process provides a systematic approach and consists of 3 steps: ‘Step 1: collect data & determine occurrence sequence’ using the SHEL model and the cognitive process model; ‘Step 2: identify and classify underlying human factors’ using the Maritime-Human Factor Analysis and Classification System (M-HFACS) model; and ‘Step 3: develop safety actions,’ using the causal chains. The case study shows that the proposed human factors investigation process is capable of identifying the underlying factors and indeveloping safety actions to prevent similar accidents from occurring.

• Hong-Tae Kim(Maritime Safety Research Division, Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, Daejeon 34103, Korea 042)866-3643)
• Seong Na(Ship & Offshore Technology Center, Korean Register, Busan 46762, Korea)