Session #1 – Safety Culture – Presentations
Capt. John Dolan, Deputy Director, Loss Prevention, Standard Club highlighted that navigation related major claims are on the rise and the associated costs are huge. As we have entered a new era of e-navigation, it is not just the seafarer who needs focus. Pilots have a critical role to play and so do shoreside management too.
Danielle Centeno, Loss Prevention Executive, American Club analysed lessons learned from accidents, highlighting that in order to prevent reoccurrence, the following are important: analyze the causes, take corrective actions, take preventing measures and manage the change. Above all, when there is a failure, it is important to investigate it and ask ‘why’ at least five times.
Amelia Rocos, Senior Risk Management Analyst, Diaplous Group shared her perspectives on safety culture in times of change and transition. When safety culture is at its most effective, staff have a proactive attitude to working to ensure nobody gets hurt, which reduces accidents/ incidents, saves costs and allows for operational excellence, she said.
Session #2 – Panel Discussion: Human Factors
Experts of this panel discussion, moderated by Apo Belokas, Managing Editor, SAFETY4SEA, discussed key considerations about human factors and best practices for enhanced safety culture & safety learning. The following experts participated: Johanna Karlström, Loss Prevention Executive, Alandia; Antonios Liappis, Marine HR Manager, GasLog Ltd.; Dr. William Moore, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Loss Prevention, American Club; Dr. Christos Patsiouras, Dean of Maritime Academy, Metropolitan College; John Southam, Loss Prevention Executive, North P&I Club and; Rear-Admiral Bill Truelove, Managing Director, CSMART Arison Maritime Training Center. Sharing interesting perspectives, panellists encouraged industry stakeholders to focus on psychological safety, soft skill development and human sustainability.
Session #3 – Human Factors – Presentations
Raal Harris, Chief Creative Officer, Ocean Technologies Group gave a presentation on how a Human Factors approach to learning can help drive people performance, highlighting five pillars to focus on: learning and shaping a culture to reduce risk, have well executed tasks and procedures, well designed equipment and controls, develop skills to respond to emerging situations and learn before and after failures.
Capt. Vasileios Velmachos, Training Manager, COSTAMARE Shipping Company S.A. mentioned that shipping industry is a dynamic sector, featuring a hard environment to live and work in, hence human factor plays a significant role on the smooth operation of the vessel. When analyzing Human factor, our focus should be on how to eliminate failures and increase the overall performance.
Capt. Konstantinos Tsochas, Chief Operating Officer, Capital-Executive Ship Management Corp. said that effectiveness is interconnected with the ability to solve problems, and especially in the maritime Industry, it’s related with crisis management. To achieve results, it is the Manager’s responsibility to plan. If success is not achieved, it is the Manager who should step forward and assume the burden of the failure.
Stephanie Sjöblad, Loss Prevention Executive/ Claims adjuster, Alandia highlighted that being compliant does not necessarily mean safe. Changes need to be implemented in a sustainable way and people are one of the organisation’s most valuable resources. As there is a direct link between human factors and safety, effective communication is vital.
Session #4 – Panel Discussion: ESG in Shipping
Activity around environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability issues is increasing as governments and citizens exert pressure on businesses to change their operations, said Allianz in a recent report. The maritime industry also keeps pace with this trend and thus, we are constantly hearing in the news, stakeholders to engage to many ESG initiatives. In this panel, moderated by Apo Belokas, Managing Editor, SAFETY4SEA, experts referred to ESG trends and key barriers and drivers to implement an ESG strategy with effective monitoring and reporting. The following experts participated: Gabriele Dado, Commercial Director, Safetytech Accelerator; Raal Harris, Chief Creative Officer, Ocean Technologies Group; Aishwarya Iyer, ESG Manager, RightShip; Øistein Jensen, Chief Sustainability Officer, Odfjell SE and; Aideen O’Driscoll, Vice President, Director Corporate Services, Ardmore Shipping Services (Ireland) Limited.
Session #5 – Best Practices Spotlight
Takis Koutris, Managing Director, Roxana Shipping SA mentioned the three principles of human performance: 1. Error is normal; 2. Humans want to do a good job; 3. Human error is opportunity for system improvement. These principles are important and can result in fearless engagement and success, as people feel comfortable to share their concerns, appreciate diversity become committed to their team and leaders.
