SAFETY4SEA Log Issue 22

ISSUE 22 I January 2018 I SAFETY 4SEA log I 31 safety4sea.com staff. We encourage the staff in the office to telephone the ships at least once a week and talk to the captain and chief engineers, not about the ships, but about themselves. We stress the importance of asking them about their families, wishing them happy birthday, inquiring after the health of their children, so that they feel they are part of the team. We want to get away from the perception that if the superintendent phones the ship, then there must be something wrong and they’re in trouble. We really want to open up these lines of communica- tion, so that the people onboard the ships see their superintendent as their ally and someone that they can talk to when they’ve got problems. We’ve all been in the industry long enough to know that problems are inevitable on ships, that’s the nature of our industry. Retention It is very difficult to achieve our aspirations if we have a constant turnover of officers and crew and still today there’s a shortage of good people in the industry. So our aspira- tions are to keep our retention as high as possible, overall in the fleet we’re at 95%, but we really want to continue to improve that. Training I think everyone recognises the importance of training and it’s some- thing that we are focused on. Training at our 8 global training centres takes a blended learning approach with classroom-based learning combined with e-learning. Training is also designed to help our seafarers build up management and leadership skills, in addition to technical skills. Shipboard working / Living condi- tions Seafarers spend a lot of time on the ships; they are their home. Sadly, nowadays, there are ships that are not in good shape, but we do not allow our crews to live in poor conditions onboard. Even if we do take ships to our management beyond our stand- ards, we ask for investment from the owners, to make sure that they bring them to an acceptable level. Recognition & reward I think that a ‘thank you’ for a job well done is almost as important as the monetary reward. Safety is a choice that the seafa- rers make themselves. At Wallem, we can support them and give them the tools they need, but at the end of the day, we can’t be onboard 24/7. So safety is a conscious decision. We try to get this across, that there is no pres- sure from the office to take shortcuts, to operate the ships in a less than safe manner. This is something that we are continuously stressing the importance of. At Wallem, we also stress ‘PRIDE – Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence’. We all want to do a good job. We want people to be proud doing a good job. Safety is not anything more than doing our jobs properly, so we take personal responsibility in delivering excellence and we praise our crews when they achieve it. We also help our seafarers feel at home on their vessels - If seafarers treat ships like their home then the ships will look good and will be operated safely. By implementing engagement programme, we’ve seen an increase in retention, quality and profitability. But best of all, we’ve seen an actual decrease in accidents. We are also seeing better teamwork and coopera- tion between ship and shore staff. By implementing engagement programme, we’ve seen an increase in retention, quality and profitability. But best of all, we’ve seen an actual decrease in accidents. OPINION View David Price’s presentation on the importance of engagement in safety during the 2017 SAFETY4SEA Conference at https://goo.gl/G7S9tE