Maintaining a safety culture in the maritime industry – Part I

The term “safety culture” has been bantered around long before I came on the scene.

But what is safety culture? Is it the speech given by the CEO or some lower management level supervisor where it’s touted to the press and company personnel about how few accidents have been recorded in the past year? Is it the spending of mountains of money on the latest and greatest safety product on the market and the company splashing it all over their web site and in press releases? Could it be how many safety meetings and safety checks are made in any given period? Or should it be how each individual employee looks to their own safety as well as the safety of those around them? I believe the answer is the latter.

I have been in the professional marine environment for almost 50 years. Safety has always been one of my major pet peeves and has been taught to me and by me as I’ve moved up the chain of command. My experience spreads across the entire marine field from being a raw recruit in the Navy and eventually sailing in the submarine force, to sailing the deep seas on merchant ships, sailing inland and finally starting my own boat tour business to round out my career. I’m semiretired and still sail for my former employer as a fill in when they are shorthanded as well as my boat tours in the summer months. Safety has always played an important role in my adult life.