The distinct roles of internal and external communication in perceived risk on offshore vessels

Communication quality has been linked to safety on offshore support vessels (OSVs). These vessels have both internal communication among the ship’s crew, and external communication with parties such as an installation crane operator, client company and offshore installation managers. This study tests whether the quality of internal and external communication is associated with the crew’s perception of risk for accidents. We performed an analysis of three cross-sectional surveys (n = 522, 287 and 366) among the crew of offshore vessels. A multiple regression analysis showed that the quality of both internal and external communication was negatively and independently associated with perceived risk. This indicates that both types of communication have distinct contributions to perceived risk. Implications for research, practice and communication training are discussed.