SSA calls for marriage of personal and company safety culture

EVEN as increasing number of containerships carrying more than 20,000 TEUs are being deployed, automation is reducing the number of crew aboard. While the industry stands to benefit from economies of scale, the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) added a note of caution about potential implications for safety at sea. "Increasingly, ships are being manned by fewer seafarers but there is an evolution of rising expectations on the bridge crew to monitor, report, and manage an increasing multitude of requests for data, and information," SSA executive director Michael Phoon said in an interview. It is common to see a multi-national crew from the Philippines, India, China, East Europe etc. - a reflection of global connectivity where seafarers are recruited from all over the world. "With this comes the multi-cultural nuances and challenges, and so, communications amongst the crew members can sometimes be fraught with confusion and misinterpretation. Different cultures treat matters of urgency differently and also adopt different approaches to an escalation in a crisis," Mr Phoon explained. Adding to the complexities, several developments in recent years - due to mandatory regulations - may impact safety at sea. Some of the new requirements make the jobs even more complex for the crew. For example, shipboard personnel need to learn how to operate and maintain a ballast water management treatment system; be proficient in using the ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System), and soon will be required to manage smart devices to ensure data is streaming unabated back to the offices. Safety systems can break down just as humans can never be completely error-free, which is why SSA believes that a Safety Management System (SMS) should embrace both effective personal and company safety culture to prevent accidents to people, property and the environment. SSA worked with authorities to overcome safety gaps in cargo handling As the shipping industry's association, SSA has interest in matters related to safety at sea, including navigational safety, nurturing a safety culture, maritime security and piracy matters. Underscoring these interests, SSA is actively engaged in operational meetings bringing industry experts to work with the Maritime and Port Authorities of Singapore (MPA). In addition, SSA is represented in the National Maritime Safety at Sea Council which was set up with the intent to serve as an advisory panel to spearhead and sustain MPA's safety at sea efforts. And the co-operation with industry players has shown results. To overcome safety gaps in cargo handling, SSA and Jurong Port worked with regulators MPA and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to create safety standards all would agree to. Cargo handling is one of the challenges in port as compliance with the local Workplace Safety & Health Act (shore) may not always be possible with ships that have different governing bodies to certify their lifting gears and equipment (sea). Mr Phoon summing up the initiative with MPA and MOM said: "Through dialogues, knowledge and experience sharing, as well as understanding each organisation's responsibility and interests, we managed to overcome both legal, technical and operational gaps to work together to achieve common objective and purpose, which is to Work Safely."