Our most important Guiding Principle states that we do not compromise on safety. This means that as Odfjell employees, ensuring safety is on top of our responsibilities. One of the tasks as part of that responsibility is to report incidents, whether they are near misses or – and especially – if they are accidents where someone is injured.
When an incident is reported, the probability of it happening again is reduced. Whether it's a near miss or an actual accident, reporting an incident means preventing someone — and that someone can be yourself — from possibly getting injured in the future. By letting your superiors know that you have been in a situation that threatened your safety, you save a life – and it could very well be your own.
Reporting incidents can help our colleagues from other vessels become wary of certain risks that may not be that high because of differences in vessel class or trading pattern. For vessels that experience the same risks, reporting incidents will let them know that they are not alone in dealing with such risks. And maybe, the said vessels have best practices that they can share with the rest of the fleet to lower down the level of a particular risk.
We must always remember that it is the shore organization's responsibility to support the seafarers. But how can the shore organization — the management in particular — support you when you do not share with us the threats to your safety, and the difficulties that prevent you from doing your job efficiently?
We need you to help us make your work environment safer and our processes more efficient by reporting any incident you observe or experience. Let us know our opportunities for improvement, and let us help each other make Odfjell a safer place to work. We, the shore organization, and you, our seafarers, are all in this together.
It goes without saying that fewer incidents mean improved safety performance. And we have repeatedly said that safety is our license to operate; it is through safe operations that we will get cargo and earn money. All of you onboard have a direct influence on this: Every incident that you report is a potential accident prevented, and earned trust from our customers.
When you keep incidents to yourselves, you cultivate a culture of unsafe work practices. An unreported near miss means refusal to learn from mistakes.
An unreported accident is tantamount to saying that the safety of the person involved does not matter.
Not reporting incidents also means that you deny our colleagues the opportunity to improve their own safety. You take away precious learnings from them and deprive them of the chance to look after themselves so they can come home safe to their families. Worse, you are giving the incident a higher probability of happening again when you choose to keep it to yourself.
It's like being in a situation where you have the capability to prevent an unfortunate thing from happening, but instead you look away.
It all boils down to this:
When you choose not to report a near miss or an accident, you are basically saying that your life does not matter, or another person's life does not matter.
But I have faith that all of you value your life and our colleagues' lives in the same way that Odfjell, and all our families, do.
Let us all look after one another and help each other come home safe to all our families. Let us make Odfjell a safer place to work, one reported incident at a time.
Remember that it is your responsibility to report anything that threatens your safety, because you are an Odfjell'er and you matter.
Torger Trige
VP Maritime Personnel
