No. Certainly not!
What it needs is “Common Sense” along with “Situational Awareness”. The
focus of today’s seafarer is gradually shifting towards either ensuring
compliance or having the evidence of doing so. What was once known as
‘the good practice of seamen’ has now been translated into numerous
procedures forming our bulky SMSs. The business needs have driven the
seafarer towards ensuring that all go/no-go items on the list are
checked, however gradually, it is taking away the onus to think, what
he/she is doing. Imagine crossing the road with your 4-year old
son/daughter. “Look left, look right, look left” would be your mantra
despite the “green man” happily guiding you on from the street signpost.
Filling out an ESE checklist in the comfort of your office on the
computer, then not testing the air in the space, is definitely not what
the industry needs. The key is, “Spreading Awareness” and build the
“Culture” of looking out for yourself and your buddies. Regular and
quality training, with hands-on experience in ESE procedures while
evaluating ESE in totality, is the mantra. It’s time to groom the
belief, “Not on my watch!”, to ensure that each one us serving out there
on the high seas goes home hale and hearty. | | NO,
the need for more regulation is not in my opinion the silver bullet to
eliminating incidents associated with the high risk operation of
enclosed space entry. Regulations and guidance governing enclosed space
entry have been in force since the introduction of ISGOTT in 1978, SIRE
in 1993, ISM in 1994 and TMSA in 2004 including IMO recommendations as
per Resolution A.1050(27), thus an abundance of regulations. Our
industry through regulatory bodies and industry best practices has
reached a stage were our procedures, permit to work and risk assessment
process is mature and accounts for all the hazards and required
mitigating measures, in theory. Incidents start happening when we ignore
or overlook hazards, changing parameters and application of available
instructions/guidance. This is not so simple to cure and should start
with our education, training and safety culture throughout, on board and
ashore. We are responsible not only for creating wonderful procedures,
we are responsible for their effective implementation on board. We must
ensure that our seafarers are adequately trained ashore and on board and
familiarised with their duties. Officers are familiar with procedures
and strictly abide to the safety management system and permit to work,
use the system for guidance and instruction and not only as a paperwork
exercise. Finally we must all take care of each other, issue work
instructions as if our own flesh and blood would be carrying out the
job, give that extra piece of advice that may save a life!
|