6 AUGUST 2017 • FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS: SAFETY S lips, trips and falls (STF) continue to be a leading cause of injury on domestic passenger vessels and account of a clear majority of the fleet’s reportable marine casualties. On average, nearly 36 percent of all reportable personal injuries were associated with STF. Specifically, out of the 1,223 personal injuries reported to the U.S. Coast Guard by the domestic passenger industry between 2010 and 2014, 436 were directly associ- ated with STF. The percentage of STF incidents goes up even higher, to 53 percent, when you remove other reportable ini- tiating events like collisions, allisions, and groundings that caused the STF. Why is it that, given all the modern technological advances in the maritime industry, and the amount of time and energy that we, as PVA members, focus on safety, that the risk of slips, trips and falls has not been eliminated or significantly reduced? To answer this question PVA, in coop- eration with the Coast Guard under the Quality Partnership, chartered a Working Group in April 2015, analyzed casualty data from 2010 to 2014 and developed prevention strategies as well as recommendations to mitigate STF casualties. The answer to the question above is twofold: human behavior and environmental familiarization. Take for instance, the number of passenger STF incidents compared to the number of crewmember STF incidents. Of the 436 STF incidents, 320 (76%) were passengers while only 116 (23%) were crewmembers. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, worker STF accidents in the United States make up 27 percent of all loss time injuries in the country. Therefore, our crewmember incidents are actually lower than the national average. This can be attrib- uted to awareness, training, professionalism and good sea- manship. But, our passenger STF incidents remain too high. Passengers continue to have problems on our outer decks, stairwells (ladderways), gangways and boarding ramps, and doorway thresholds. Crewmembers become accustomed to the characteris- tics and the motion of their vessels. We train our shipmates to keep one hand for themselves and one for the boat. We require, and in some cases, even provide non-slip footwear and we stress safety above all else. Now consider our passengers. For many, this is the first time on a boat or perhaps they take a sightseeing or dinner cruise just once a year so they are not familiar with the marine environment. Their minds expect the experience to be just like on land. They do not expect motion while using a stairway. They do not expect a steel deck to have a coating of moisture from the salt air or fog. They do not expect to have to step over a 3- to 6-inch threshold to enter an interior deck or a head. They are unaware of the inherent risks of simply stepping onto a vessel. The challenge for us as operators is to eliminate as many STF hazards as possible, minimize those that can’t be elimi- nated, and educate both our passengers and crewmembers as to the potential risks that exist while still balancing the need for guest service and vessel aesthetics. We can’t paint the entire vessel safety yellow and require every passenger to purchase non-slip shoes before cruising. So how do we start? First, you must identify where the majority of your STF occur on your vessel. You should be tracking every incident and looking for trends as to where STFs take place, at what time of day, and during what type of cruise activity. If you are tracking and logging every incident, then you should have enough data to identify a trend if one exists. Then a thorough risk assessment of that area should be done to determine if there are hazards that can be repaired removed or mitigated, such as lighting, proper signage, blind corner, a lack of non-skid or a con- trasting color to draw attention, or identify if is there another contributing factor. In May 2014, the Coast Guard issued Marine Safety Alert Preventing Slips Trips and Falls on Domestic Passenger Vessels By Bob Lawler, Boston Duck Tours, and LCDR Yancee McLemore, USCG