Professional Skipper - Free Sample issue (July/Aug 2011)

A VOICE OF AUTHORITY A VIEW FROM THE CHAIR BY DAVID LEDSON In this new column, David Ledson, the chairman of the Maritime New Zealand Authority, adds his perspective to the changes taking place at Maritime NZ A few months after joining Maritime New Zealand, I recall asking the director, Catherine Taylor, whether, since everyone understood we were "the regulator", we could stop using that as our default setting for engaging with the maritime industry. I then said that while we were getting our heads around that change, we could perhaps start regarding participants in the maritime industry as customers rather than "the regulated". After more than a year as chairman of the Maritime NZ Authority, I can see now one of the main things shaping my thinking was that I was pretty low on the learning curve. Also influencing my attitude then was that in my former career with the Royal New Zealand Navy, I spent so many years living with rules and regulations I feel a natural kinship with anyone being "regulated". There are undoubtedly people out there who reckon I'm just a Wellington bureaucrat who doesn't understand the specific challenges and frustrations they face. But as someone who has had to operate inside various regulated systems over many years, I can assure the maritime industry I do understand at least some of the frustrations this can sometimes cause. I was also able to get a good sense of this during the Maritime Operator Safety System, or MOSS, public consultation process, as some of those making submissions gave us a pretty strong telling off! However, it would be true to say my position has shifted since then. I have learned some important new things over the past year or so: I didn't really understand that while our interventions as the regulator affected the safety of operations, they could sometimes also enable new business opportunities and sometimes restrict them. Sometimes, too, they had a negative impact on current business activities. While I knew commercial pressures influenced the level of risk people would be prepared to operate in, I had no idea there would in some instances be very large levels of risk with very small margins for safety. "Excellent organisations" trust and encourage their people to use their judgment to make the right decisions. But I underestimated the extent which an assumed competence, based on experiences presumed to be relevant, could lead to the wrong people being empowered to make decisions they would inevitably get wrong. Also, the organisational energy consumed in trying to make the wrong decision "right" has to be seen to be believed. Furthermore, I don't think I realised how strong the commercial pressures could be on those making those decisions, and that sometimes this would stretch things to breaking point. I know standards can be pretty frustrating, particularly, as an example, for those people who talk not about going fishing but rather about hunting. In the case of standards that focused on safety, I assumed there would not be any systematic attempt to undermine them. So, based on these insights, and being very aware I still have a lot to learn, this is where I've got to in my thinking: If we want New Zealand's maritime system to be one in which there is "a safety culture embraced by all", Maritime NZ needs to be able to function as an effective regulator and the industry as a willing participant. An effective and efficient maritime transport system requires a regulatory framework with strong standards as one of its central elements. You need a powerful, reliable connection while at sea, whether to stay in touch with the office, manage your business, or allow guests or crew to stay in touch with loved ones at home. You can rely on the Tracphone V7 and mini-VSAT broadband to keep you connected via: · E-Mail · Multiple VoIP telephone lines · Video conferencing · Instant messaging www.enl.co.nz · Internet browsing · Access corporate networks (VPNs) · Weather and chart updates · Data transfers sales@enl.co.nz Electronic Navigation Ltd, 65 Gaunt Street, Westhaven, Auckland. Ph 09 373 5595 Nelson Branch: 78 Vickerman Street. Ph 03 548 4987 34 Professional Skipper July/August 2011 r Those standards must be focused on enabling safety outcomes within a risk management approach that are sensitive to commercial factors, easy to understand and relevant to today's operating environment. They must also be flexible enough to adapt to future environments. The standards must be applied consistently across relevant sectors. In applying these standards, we must recognise those who "get it", while changing the attitudes and behaviour of those who don't and penalising those who "won't get it" so they are no longer in the game. I don't think we have reached this stage yet. To get there will be challenging for all of us. It will have its moments of frustration as well as those of excitement. And it will not happen overnight. Many factors will determine the trajectory and extent of the path to success. However, the really important one is how closely we can hold to the sentiment of the Maori proverb: Me te mahi tahi, ka oti pai te kaupapa. (By working together we will do well.) VIP.S81

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