While the voting procedure for the 2019 SAFETY4SEA Awards is open, Fena Boyle, Policy Manager, Safety, UK Chamber of Shipping tells a few words about the ‘Safety Culture Charter’ for which the organization has been shortlisted for an Initiative Award. This initiative aims to make safety a top priority; in this context, it encourages the reporting of near-misses and accidents and the creation of a just culture by building a safe and trusting environment within organizations in the industry.
SAFETY4SEA: Your organization has been shortlisted for the 2019 SAFETY4SEA Awards in the ‘Initiative’ category alongside a number of other distinguished nominees. What would you like to share with industry’s stakeholders with respect to this development?
Fena Boyle: The UK Chamber of Shipping is delighted to be nominated for a Safety 4 Sea award within the ‘Initiative’ category alongside such distinguished nominees. As a membership organisation that strives to work in collaboration with the rest of the shipping industry, it is fantastic to see so many innovative ideas coming to the forefront of our maritime sector. The Chamber has worked in close collaboration with their members to develop the Safety Culture Charter with the aim of improving safety across the wider industry.
S4S: How has your initiative influenced industry’s landscape? What are the key areas of attention?
F.B.: The Safety Culture Charter provides companies with an opportunity to reassess their current safety culture and implement positive changes to empower their seafarers and shoreside staff to adopt a more effective safety culture. Before its official launch, the Charter has been adopted by 20 shipping companies with many more expected to join the movement. The document encourages senior management to lead from the front, drive a ‘just culture’, work alongside other Chamber members and make safety their top priority.
S4S: Do you have any new projects on the pipeline and/or plans that you would like to share with the rest of the industry?
F.B.: The Chamber has a dedicated Safety Culture Working Group that continuously explores Safety Culture within the shipping industry and meets three times a year to share best practice and learn from others. This group identifies common barriers and issues and works towards finding solutions that can improve safety.
S4S: If you could change one thing about the shipping industry, what would it be and why?
F.B.: The UK Chamber of Shipping encourages continued and, in some areas, more improved sharing of information and closer working relationships with the wider industry to best understand the current safety picture. Data is currently collected by several organisations but if this information was gathered in a more effective it could be used to positively change the way we understand, and measure safety, in turn allowing us to implement actions that would reduce the number of accidents at sea.
S4S: What is your key message to the industry for enhancing safety culture onboard and ashore?
F.B.: There are number of things to consider when addressing safety culture and the Chamber champions the need for safety culture to be led from the top of the organisation down to the lower ranks. Further, we encourage the reporting of near-misses and accidents and the creation of a just culture by building a safe and trusting environment within organisations. Collection of information and data, the sharing of best practices and continued collaboration throughout the industry will help to change Safety Culture but it needs commitment and continued resource. This is not an overnight fix and must be done correctly for it to change the current culture.
You may cast your vote for UK Chamber of Shipping at 2019 SAFETY4SEA Awards dedicated webpage till 6th of September 2019!
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
