Reading through hundreds of accident reports over the years MAC notices a common thread: Major accidents are often preceded by a number of close-calls or near misses, unsafe practices and conditions, and unreported incidents that may not be directly related to the accident itself but which reveal many of the conditions that led to it.
In this opinion piece, reproduced from Maritime Executive with permission, from CHIRP/MARS Ambassador Captain Özgür Özdelice, he explains why such ‘unimportant incident should be reported and, just as important, why, and what made him sign up as a CHIRP/ NI MARS Ambassador.
SAFETY FIRST! For sure everyone on board will be very familiar these two words. We see this message stenciled onto the superstructure of many ships, but is it just a slogan or does it have real meaning?
Far too often we can see on board, from the senior officer to the junior deck rating, they do not pay particular special attention to safety. This is despite the clear messages in the ship’s Safety Management System and company circular letters. Too often we read formal incident reports that this prescriptive safety advice and recommended standard practice are not supported by the actions of the shipping company shore based staff. Managers and superintendents do not demonstrate SAFETY FIRST and therefore MONEY FIRST should replace the painted slogan.
Why is it that not a single day passes without an incident in the shipping sector? It is easy to sit back and do nothing, but when The Nautical Institute and CHIRP asked for volunteers to encourage their new initiative on incident and near miss reporting, I signed up.
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