The Offshore Safety and Survival Centre (OSSC), primarily a training facility, is uniquely positioned to carry out high quality research in the area of simulation training, emergency response, evacuation, survival and rescue. In 2003, OSSC established a research unit to provide knowledge required for informed debate and better, defensible decision-making by designers, regulators, operators and trainers. OSSC's research unit undertakes applied research with collaborators and for clients at the local, national and international levels, ranging from developers, manufacturers, operators, academics and regulators. More recently the Ocean Safety Research Unit was formed in 2016 to support the research of trainees (postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students).
Research strength at OSSC ranges from full-scale field trials, including sea trials on different types of vessels ranging from life rafts and lifeboats to rigid hull inflatable rescue craft, offshore service and supply vessels and large scale passenger ships such as ferries and cruise ships, to studying training in our world class simulation facilities, to laboratory studies aimed at understanding human factors associated with cold exposure. OSSC's research team understands both regulatory and training environments and has experience in the real world application of emergency response procedures and survival techniques and equipment design considerations. OSSC has an impressive inventory of research equipment that allows its researchers to work with collaborators to plan, collect and analyse data to improve the safety for people who work and play on the ocean.