Human element is the common factor in most shipping accidents
Human behaviour – what the shipping industry now terms as human element – is the common factor in most shipping accidents. Human element has become a focus point for the industry, and resulted in new requirements to
assist in managing our behaviour and reducing accidents.
How many hours spent working or resting is one of the issues being addressed by shipping authorities with the ILO Work/ Rest hour registration. The goal of the registration is to measure the actual human workloadonboard ships. The STCW convention have defined and developed these rules over time.
To easily and efficiently record the hours of rest and work onboard Wallem ships, we use software specific to the job: ISF Watchkeeper 3. It is installed and must be used on all Wallem ships. Watchkeeper 3 indicates if and when there is an exception based on an individual’s daily input of hours. This software is also recognised by important institutions in the maritime industry, including major oil companies.
Flag states, oil companies and class societies are now paying close attention to the records of work and rest in response to the increased focus on effectively managing the human element in shipping. Violation of the rules is serious and could lead to fines, trade restrictions and other penalties. Port State Control representatives, in particular, are right now focusing on correct work/rest hour registration.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has on some occasions been looking very closely at how the registration is being done and ensuring
ship staff are complying with the rules. In the past onboard some ships, the work/rest hour registration has been approached as a “paper exercise”. This has resulted in the registration not reflecting the actual onboard workload.
Treating the process as another administration task is dangerous, resulting in fatigue and the risk of accidents. In Wallem Shipmanagement procedures are 100 percent clear. The registration of work/rest hours must always reflect reality. If necessary, recording the information correctly will justify to our customers the need for extra personnel. It also means the captain can manage his crew resources correctly and safely.
If a ship’s crew is overloaded with work, for instance caused by a hectic trading pattern, Wallem can respond by adding resources to eliminate any violations of work/rest hour rules and support safe working practices.
Used the right way and with an accurate reflection of reality, the work/rest hour registration is a very strong and supportive tool for Wallem sea staff to meet the many challenges in today’s demanding shipping industry.
Simon Frank
Fleet Personnel Director for Wallem Shipmanagement
This article appeared in True North , Wallem Group News, Summer 2011 Edition .