MCA has released MIN 664 (M) Amendment 2: Safety climate tool (SCT) for the maritime industry

Summary:

Safety culture refers to the shared beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes about safety within an organization. Poor safety culture has been identified as a root cause of many maritime accidents. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has partnered with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to adapt the safety climate tool (SCT) for the maritime industry to measure and enhance safety culture on board.

Background:

Safety culture encompasses the collective beliefs and attitudes employees hold about safety in an organization.

Inadequate safety culture is often a fundamental factor in workplace incidents, which can be particularly severe or fatal in the remote settings of seafaring roles.

The maritime sector has seen poor safety culture contribute to significant incidents, including the Titanic, the Herald of Free Enterprise, and the Costa Concordia.

A positive safety culture can lead to increased productivity, improved company reputation, and reduced accidents.

Indications of a poor safety culture include routine procedural violations, failure to adhere to safety rules, and management decisions that prioritize production or cost over safety.

Maritime Safety Climate Tool (SCT):

The SCT assesses individuals' attitudes toward health and safety within an organization, offering an objective measure of safety culture. This version of the tool is tailored to the maritime industry's specific needs.

Using a user-friendly online questionnaire that ensures respondent anonymity, the SCT explores employees' attitudes and perceptions regarding health and safety. After completing the survey, it generates a comprehensive report and provides guidance for improving safety culture.

Benefits of the maritime SCT include:

• Tailoring to the maritime industry's needs, including demographics and job roles breakdown.
• Benchmarking against industry standards.
• Automatic analysis and generation of summary reports.
• Comparison of employee and management results.
• Customized reports highlighting priorities.
• Recommendations for addressing identified issues.
• Convenient use via a secure web account.

For more information on the maritime SCT, including webinars demonstrating its usage, visit the Health and Safety Executive website.

Wellbeing at Sea Tool:

The MCA has introduced the Wellbeing at Sea Tool, a digital survey completed by seafarers. It offers personalized advice on improving wellbeing at sea and collects anonymized data to help managers identify areas for improvement and best practices. For additional details on this voluntary tool, refer to MIN 680 (M) Wellbeing at Sea.

By utilizing the SCT and Wellbeing at Sea Tool, the maritime industry aims to enhance safety culture and the overall wellbeing of seafarers.