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A VI EW FR OM THE C H A IR SOME IMPORTANT LESSONS BY DAVID LEDSON, CHAIR OF THE MARITIME NEW ZEALAND AUTHORITY V ery shortly after it came out I read the report of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy. I found it to be a very interesting and thought-provoking document. Usefully too, although its main points of focus were Pike River and coal mining, there was a very obvious crossover into the broad maritime areas in which Maritime New Zealand exercises its regulatory responsibilities. In this regard, a key, and comforting message I took from the report was that the changes we are making in both the regulatory and organisational spaces, as frustrating as they may be to some people in the maritime industry and inside Maritime New Zealand, these changes are moving the organisation in the right direction. I am mindful though, as I write this and think about some of the findings and put them in the context of my past experience, that there are also important lessons around changes: ��� They need to be for the right reasons ��� They don���t always achieve the intended consequences or result in improvements ��� They need to be sensitive to the relationship between an organisation���s; structure, processes and culture ��� They need to have a sound intellectual, philosophical and experiential base ��� While all management books talk about continual change as the path to excellence, it needs to be balanced against the natural human desire for stability and certainty What is especially useful about the report is that as well as enabling lessons to be drawn from it, it also serves to provide a context in which we can think about New Zealand���s safety record. I had a look at our Annual Report for the last financial year and found the information shown in the table at the bottom of the page. The individuals who are represented by these figures will have their own stories to tell of the significance of the events represented by them. However, without the particular benefit of ���benchmarks���, it is problematical for others to determine for example whether this a ���poor��� record, whether it is a ���very poor��� one, or whether it���s okay. It is helpful therefore, to see that the Royal Commission is quite unequivocal in its view that: ���New Zealand���s rate of workrelated injury and fatality is far above that of the best-performing countries. Country-specific differences in industry and hazards may account for some differences in performance but it is clear that New Zealand performs poorly.��� Consequently, it is very apparent to me that we do in fact have scope to improve our safety record, and that lifting our safety game is a practical aspiration for Maritime New Zealand and for industry. I know that there is a belief among some in the maritime industry that we at Maritime New Zealand should play only a marginal role in this space, and that we should leave the way ahead in industry hands: after all they know best. MARITIME ACCIDENTS SOLAS SSM Less than 6m Tourism TOTAL 2010/11 2011/12 53 178 65 18 314 68 217 70 67 422 SERIOUS HARM INJURIES SOLAS SSM Less than 6m Tourism TOTAL The report provides some hard earned insights into this approach. One among them is that: ���Institutional memory dims over time. This confirms that good health and safety performance is only achievable with the effective, continued involvement of the three key participants: employers, employees and the government regulator���. Another is found in its comments on the four principles in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment���s 10 year strategy for significantly reducing New Zealand���s work toll. In relation to the ���responsibility principle���, which is that employers are primarily responsible for health and safety, although employees have some personal responsibility, the report says, ���The responsibility principle is narrowly expressed and concentrates on employers, while recognising some role for employees���More importantly, the statement on responsibility overlooks the critical role of the regulator������ So, we will not step to one side, or participate as observers only, as New Zealand seeks to improve on its poor safety performance. As we say in our current Statement of Intent: ���Maritime New Zealand���s work is vital in ensuring that New Zealand���s commercial and recreational vessels operate safely and securely on clean waters������ The Chief Executive makes the point in last year���s Annual Report that in doing this work, ���We are committed to using a range of compliance approaches ��� from education and information, to detainment of ships and prosecutions ��� to ensure that maritime regulations are followed.��� Some ask why should we even contemplate using the ���hard incentives��� rather than the ���soft��� ones. After all, so the argument goes, people treat looking after people, especially themselves, as very serious business. Here is something that the Royal Commission has to say about this point: ���The lesson has emerged clearly from other disasters, which have shown that instructions to comply are no substitute for auditing and enforcement��� On another occasion, three contractors were found working in the ventilation return without gas detectors. These examples demonstrate the vulnerability of any system that simply assumes workers will comply with procedures, even those of such importance.��� So one of our important areas of work will be to leverage off, in the words of the Chief Executive in the December issue of Maritime New Zealand���s magazine Lookout! ������ the opportunities we have to improve other aspects of our compliance capability ��� that is, the way we bring all elements of the organisation to bear on supporting, encouraging, assisting and enforcing requirements to comply with the laws, regulations, rules and codes that support safe, secure and clean seas and waterways in New Zealand.��� 2010/11 2011/12 21 42 20 9 92 11 50 26 13 199 COMMERCIAL FATALITIES SOLAS SSM Less than 6m Tourism TOTAL 2010/11 2011/12 2 7 0 0 9 0 13 0 0 13 March/April 2013 Professional Skipper 27

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