Measuring Safety Onboard

To ensure that the Safety Culture onboard is constantly improving and being followed, the company should develop a way to track the system's effectiveness. This is done on board by encouraging crew members to report any near misses. Any incidents or accidents occurring onboard the yacht will also be considered. 

• Accidents – are events that result in severe injury or damage to life or to the yacht itself.
• Near miss – is a narrowly avoided accident.
• Incidents – are events that do not result in severe injury or damage to life but might result in damage to the yacht.

This means of measuring the performance onboard will assist in identifying new measures that must be put in place to enhance safety further.

Safety Committee Meeting

At a certain point every month, a meeting known as a 'Safety Committee Meeting' should be carried out onboard the larger yachts. This is where all crew (if a small yacht), including the Master, Head of Departments, etc. meet and discuss the quality, health, safety and the environment onboard. 

The primary purpose of such meetings is to discuss how to enhance safety onboard and develop better working practices. During these meetings, the crew are encouraged to report and discuss any near misses, incidents and accidents observed throughout the month. 

Modifying Behaviour Ashore and Onboard 

The main aim of creating a safety culture onboard is to shape the behaviour of both the company ashore and the seafarers in recognising the importance of safety. For a safety culture to be effective, everyone involved, be it shoreside personnel or crew on board, must understand, believe and act on the importance of safety at all times. That being said, promoting and developing an efficient and effective safety culture takes time and requires commitment. 

When an SMS (Safety Management System) as per the ISM Code (International Safety Management Code) is implemented onboard, the following of the guidelines provided in the system by the company will immediately result in a change of behaviour of personnel onboard. Although this may not be enough, it is still a step toward a better Safety Culture. 

Accidents, Incidents, and Near-Misses 

When a major accident or incident occurs on board, a company tends to focus on spending money and dedicating time & effort to figuring out what happened and the cause.  This action taken by the company is considered part of the Safety Culture practised. 

Usually, the factors causing such accidents are found to be already been reported before, possibly as part of something smaller. When vessels report such factors in advance, and the company follows up on these reports by ensuring appropriate remedial action, accidents that lead to damage to life, the yacht itself or the environment may be prevented.  Therefore, it is of utmost importance for the company and the seafarers on board to recognise the value of reporting any non-conformities and near misses without delay. Additionally, by having a full understanding of the reasons why incidents occurred, the introduction of corrective action becomes possible.  

Once the corrective action has been applied, the chances of an accident or incident resulting in damage to life, the yacht or the environment will be immediately reduced.