b'LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTPassenger Vessel Association:our industry and work to take actions and Safety Driven make the challenging decisions necessary that Each Passenger Vessel Association (PVA)will ensure economic recovery in the future. business operator, manager, or owner hasSafety Management Systemsconcerns that they focus on and work to con- Safety Management Systems (SMS) are tinually improve. Safety is more than likelycurrently guiding the safety culture for at the top of that list of concerns for bothmany PVA members. However, there are our Associate and Vessel members. Safety inColleen Stephens many members, my company included, that our daily operations for our coworkers andhave not fi nalized their SMS or have not yet passengers, vessel maintenance, passengerconsidered using a SMS in their business. movement, food preparation, construction, emergencyNo matter where on the SMS spectrum your company response, communications, and of fi nancial transactions.falls, I encourage you to consider dedicating some of your Your PVA Board of Directors, Safety and Securitystretched resources to working through the creation of an Committee, and staff understand your safety concerns. TheSMS. An excellent guide and outline can be found in PVAs association takes steps daily to ensure that as a memberU.S. Coast Guard-recognized Flagship Safety Management you have access to the necessary resources and are awareSystem. http://www.passengervessel.com/downloads/of the most up-to-date technology so that we can togetherpva-fl agship-sms.pdf. set the standard in safety for the passenger vessel industryMigrating your current safety processes to a SMS in the US.will truly benefi t your business in ways that you will not initially expect. As our company works its way through Setting the Standard: Evolving Your Safety ProgramFlagship, we are fi nding ourselves creating a new safety and the Changes Ahead culture where all of our team is feeling responsibility and As we work to stay ahead and set the standard in theaccountability. Even though we have not finalized our industry for safety, I would like to challenge all of ourprogram, we are seeing immediate benefi ts such as:members to encourage your teams to continually evolveThorough analysis of our operations from when the your safety plans and implementation. The moment weguest fi rst checks in to when they disembark at the end become confi dent that our programs do not need refresh- of the tour. ing is the time we will slip into complacency.Expanding the responsibility of recognizing and Two of the items we all need to remain focused onreporting safety defi ciencies to all coworkers. as safety programs evolve are COVID-19 Mitigation/Operations Plans as well as Safety Management Systems.Increased awareness of inventories of parts on hand and ownership as to what that should include. COVID-19 Suggested changes in safety procedures are being The introduction of the COVID-19 pandemic into ourbrought forward by all levels of employees. world has caused us to have to continually adapt and change our approach to managing staff and guest safety,Effi ciency in daily operations. community safety and vessel or facility cleanliness. OurI encourage any operator who does not have a Safety knowledge on the impacts of this disease and how to limitManagement System in place to consider starting the its spread will be modifi ed for possibly years ahead. We willprocess. I am not making this recommendation because of need to continue to assist each other by sharing screening orthe threat that we all may be regulated to have one eventu-testing processes, sanitation techniques, and best practicesally, though this may happen. I am making this suggestion for passenger management. Current examples from ourbecause it will better your operations and ultimately save fellow members can be found on the PVA website and theyou money in reduced problems, claims and repairs, and most updated version of PVAs Reopening Guidelines can beit will create a participatory safety culture for your entire found at: http://www.passengervessel.com/downloads/ company. Coronavirus-Reopening-Guidelines.pdf.Wishing everyone safe operations and successful navi-In addition, we must ensure that we are working togation through the few months ahead. follow local, state and federal mandates and guidelines that are in place to limit the spread of COVID-19. It is chal-lenging but we need to fi nd the balance between making our operations survive this global pandemic and taking the steps necessary to ensure proper cleaning/disinfecting,Colleen Stephens social distancing when possible, and masking takes place.President nI encourage everyone to look to the long-term success of 4AUGUST 2020FOGHORN'