12 AUGUST 2017 • FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS: SAFETY bassadors of your system. If they believe it and support it, then the rest of your organization will be engaged and take greater responsibility into not only their safety, but the safety of themselves, the passengers and the vessel. After building the support at your management level, schedule a Kick-off Meeting with all hands. This meeting should emphasize the change in culture on how safety is viewed at your operation. There is great benefit to have your super- visors participate and lead portions of the meeting. Safety is the responsibility of everyone and your new safety management system is how you will build your safety culture. I:Introduce regular safety training and safety briefings. It is important to build off the momentum of your roll-out and kick-off meetings with your crew. Keep your headway by scheduling a few minutes before each shift to highlight an important safety topic. Topics can vary and be assigned by many different ways, but the key is to demonstrate your commitment immediately. The crew will be watching to see if management follows through on their talk. This is the time that owners and operators must now “walk the walk.” S:Support the reporting of all safety concerns, incidents and near-misses. Encourage strong communication lines by requesting feedback and reporting. Let your crew know that there is not a penalty associated with reporting hazards, but rather it is encouraged. Educate and reward your crew to report near-misses. Early identification will help allow for proper preventa- tive measures to be put in place in the operation and maintenance programs to prevent catastrophic failures, incidents and expenses down the road. Overall, in order to truly build and improve safety performance, owners and operators need to gather data, build metrics and monitor the information. Corrective and preventative action can only take place effectively if the information is reported, corrected and reviewed for effectiveness. S: Set the bar. Safety is the responsibility of everyone. However, there will be individu- als that will resist and compromise the safety of others, as well as drive down support and morale of your safety system. This leads to one of the more debated topics, which is how to most effectively handle those individuals who choose not to participate in the new safety culture. Ultimately, it is up to each owner or operator to determine what is the best method for their operation, however, the result needs to be consistent. Individuals that deliberately choose not to follow safety protocol, need to be identified. These individuals can cause harm to themselves and others, but for SMS implementation purposes, they can poison the well. In order for employees to do the right thing, they need to know that they have full support from the top down. In many cases, this becomes the most important piece to effectively and quickly imple- menting your safety management system. Change can sometimes be met with resistance and some individuals may take longer to buy-in. Try building a safety reward and recognition program that highlights key objectives of the SMS that reward crew. Rewards should remain focused on reporting near misses, training, and proactively improving safety. Avoid introducing rewards that may hinder the accurate flow of safety related information. The most important piece to effec- tively and quickly implement a safety management system resides in the support of your people. Make sure to keep them informed, empowered and committed. In the end, remember to keep it simple. n About the Author Richard J. Paine, Jr. is a licensed mariner with 20 years of maritime experience ranging from deep sea, tugs and towing, and passenger vessels. He has been in shoreside management for over ten years and is currently the Regional Director, HSSQE Hornblower. A winner of the David Clark Excellence in Editorial Award, Rich can be reached at rjpainejr@gmail.com. Note: The opinions and strategies discussed in this article are those of the author alone, they do not reflect the views of Hornblower Cruises & Events and/or any other Hornblower family of companies. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K SCA0137A Ad - PVA Directory.pdf 1 7/25/2017 3:16:39 PM