New Training on Sharing Near-Miss Information

Training program from Videotel and The Standard Club addresses the need to report ‘near-miss’ incidents with others through an open, ‘no-blame’ safety culture 

Videotel™, a KVH company, has announced the launch of a new training program, “Report a Near-Miss, Save a Life”, in association with The Standard Club, a protection and indemnity (P&I) club, which insures ship owners, operators, and charterers for their liabilities to third parties. 

The training program examines the importance of sharing near-miss reports, so that lessons can be learned and publicized throughout a fleet, to help reduce the chances of similar incidents happening. 

Although standards have improved, since the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) adoption of the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and Pollution Prevention (ISM Code) in 1993, a high proportion of near misses at sea can still be attributed to human error. This fact was recently highlighted in the Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s Safety Digest report which identified that 75% of incidents received by the Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Program (CHIRP) during the past 12 years could be traced to human factors. 

In the video and workbook, near-miss case studies are described and analyzed in detail. These real-life examples of potentially serious incidents that almost happened to others are designed to trigger discussions about similar situations that may have gone unreported onboard an individual ship or in the fleet. These can then be shared with other vessels with the aim of avoiding similar mistakes. The program also investigates the many barriers to near-miss reporting and looks at how incidents involving third parties can be reported to CHIRP. 

Proper reporting of incidents is encouraged, following guidelines laid out in the ship’s Safety Management System. The training emphasizes the importance of instituting a ‘no-blame’ safety culture from senior management down and the serious injury or loss of life that can result if seafarers and managers are afraid to speak up. 

“Ships are inherently dangerous working environments due to the nature of working in a large machine travelling across often treacherous seas, and we must do all we can to keep crew safe by reporting near-miss events,” says Yves Vandenborn, Director of Loss Prevention, Charles Taylor & Co, manager of The Standard Club.