New Safety Observation Card system
SHIPPING: Last year Maersk Supply Service vessels submitted 1492 Near Miss reports. This was a significant improvement from 2008 and over double the amount in 2007. A majority of the Near Miss reports were actually observations of an Unsafe Condition or "At-Risk" Action.
Although very important, the Unsafe Conditions and "At-Risk" Actions create large administrative burdens, both ship-side and shore-side. An obstructed emergency exit requires the same amount of reporting as a dropped load. It also requires a written response and action from shore-side to close the report.
The Safety Observation Card (SOC) system has been developed to streamline the process. It empowers the vessel management team to take action on an issue rather than waiting for guidance from the office and focuses shore-side resources on events that are classified high potential or incidents where assistance has been requested. This has the advantage of letting the vessel decide what action is required. Once an action has been taken, the vessel then closes the report.
The card has been designed to make the reporting of Unsafe Conditions and "At Risk" Actions a quick, simple process that requires noting some basic details (area, activity, etc) in a tick box format. This can then be used to guide a discussion between the people making the report and their supervising officers. Typical personal behavioural issues can also be reported on making this a BBS card system as well.
The focus is on being observant, taking action and then making a simple report that can be followed up and closed out onboard, while still providing some useful statistical data. Over time, the trends will become visible to each vessel and this can help keep Safety Meetings and Vessel Safety Action Plans focused on the most relevant issues.
The roll out of the system started in July with all our Canadian fleet and is now progressing on all other vessels and should be completed by the end of the year. Each roll out is undertaken by a safety superintendent from our officer who presents the system and ensures there is a good understanding of it on board. New software has been installed in our tracking system to record safety observations.
We look forward to our safety observation system playing an important part in our continuing drive to enhance our safety culture
Source: Maersk Supply / maritimedanmark.dk
