Application of Attribution Theory in Crane Incident Analysis in a South African Port

Abstract

Crane incidents occur in the ports of South Africa and around the world in the maritime industry. Crane operators’ and crane supervisors’ accounts of such events are used in investigations and therefore the accuracy of the findings from the incident investigation is important because these findings inform the remedial actions that must be taken to address the cause(s) of the incident. The aim of this paper is to understand and compare crane operators’ and supervisors’ perceptions of why incidents happen using attribution theory (Heider 1958). In this qualitative study, 16 participants from a port in South Africa were used. Specifically, 8 crane operators and 8 crane supervisors. The two groups were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Thematic content analysis was conducted on the interview data to identify the emerging themes between the two groups utilizing a systems thinking approach (Wilson 2014). The results support Gyekye (2010), demonstrating that supervisors were more inclined to attribute crane incidents to internal factors of the crane operators while the crane operators were more inclined to attribute crane incidents to external, systemic factors. Although both groups identified external factors such as mechanical and maintenance issues, weather conditions, communication, training and skills, and safety culture as factors contributing towards crane incidents, the supervisors were more likely to identifying personal factors attributed to crane operators such as a lack of concentration, fatigue, skills, and eyesight as causal factors. Conversely, crane operators mostly felt that these factors were insignificant in causing any incidents.