Overview of marine and offshore safety

This chapter presents an overview of marine and offshore safety, including the evolution of safety perspectives and regulations in marine and offshore sectors, lessons learned from past major accidents and safety analysis. Various approaches used for safety analysis have been discussed. Past major accidents and their consequences have been seen as a driving force for development of safety regulations and environmental protection policies. Safety analysis based on past reported incidents and accidents revealed that safety in the marine and offshore sector has been improving, however, due to operation in harsh environmental conditions and use of new technologies, new types of challenges, and risks continue to emerge. These emerging challenges and/or ineffective implementation of lessons learned from past accidents have been found to be responsible for the continued occurrence of marine and offshore accidents. Additionally, this chapter also outlines the purpose and organization of Volume 2.