The captains of each ship may occasionally receive weekly updates with important safety messages or information about recent accidents and lessons learned.
The benefit of such fleet-wide safety bulletins is that the captain and other senior officers can brief their personnel and the crews of the ships can observe what happened on other ships that are comparable to their own.
The EU-funded SAFEMODE project highlights that although such briefings are critical, more practices that can enhance safety intelligence sharing are needed. In essence, Safety Learning is measured by how much experience feedback has been transmitted effectively to seafarers, so that they can integrate the learning into their working practices, as well as receive the message that the company cares about learning.
Key fact
A study among top aviation executives found that 50% of their ‘intelligence’ on safety risks came from talking to people and observed that people won’t always come to them, so they need to seek people out
Food for thought for shipping: Online meetings and discussions can be relatively effective!
6 methods of sharing
#1 Safety videos for transmitting safety information
#2 Rewards and recognition of staff for safe behaviours
#3 Safety stories along the lines of ‘it nearly happened to me’
#4 Safety scenario discussions to actively engage crews in discussion and safety decision-making
#5 Safety Exchange of different groups in the same organisation, who never normally work together
#6 Open Door Safety – it refers to senior managers, directors and CEOs being willing to listen to any safety issues
This is a great article. Sadly it remains the case that number 6 is often preached more than practised. Although in the minority, CHIRP Maritime receives many reports from seafarers who have been rebuked (or worse!) for bringing safety concerns to their managers’ attention.
The adage “A stitch in time saves nine” is directly applicable to #maritimesafety and we exist to receive reports from those who feel unable or unwilling (for whatever reason) to use their organisation’s reporting system. We receive all reports in strictest confidence and never reveal our reporters’ identities.