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A VIEW FROM THE CHAIR FOCUS ON TODAY TO ASSURE TOMORROW BY DAVID LEDSON David Ledson, the chairman of the Maritime New Zealand Authority, adds his perspective to the changes taking place at Maritime NZ I find no matter how much I think I know, there is still an awfully large amount I don't. I also find myself learning the same lesson over and over again. This happened to me recently when we had some really useful Maritime New Zealand meetings about the Maritime Operator Safety Systems, or MOSS project. For the umpteenth time I re-learned the "power of reflection", of stepping back and just spending some time thinking about what you want to achieve and how you are going about it. Having done this, I gained three key insights as we work towards making the transition from safe ship management to MOSS. Since I joined Maritime NZ last year, at each monthly authority meeting we have discussed how important MOSS is to: • improve the commercial maritime safety record, noting that while there may not have been a dramatic increase in fatalities under SSM, there is massive potential for things to go wrong • provide a vehicle for the changes required if we are to stand any chance of generating a "safety culture" in New Zealand's maritime industry, and • establish a regulatory regime which encourages Maritime NZ and the industry to have a constructive relationship. Consequently, a lot of focus has been on the future, and there are many quotations along the lines of: "My interest is in the future, because that is where I will spend the rest of my life". However, while these words may sound clever, they ignore the reality that the place where we actually spend all of our time, and in which the consequences of our actions occur, is the present. As a result, my approach to the future and its relationship with the present is that while you may have your sight fixed on the peak of the mountain you have set out to climb, you need to be careful about the boulders at your feet, because they can trip you up! Specialist manufacturers of marine aluminium windows and doors And so, my first insight is that while we have our sights firmly set on getting MOSS in place by early 2013, we – that is, Maritime NZ and the industry – have to manage SSM to make it work as well as it possibly can over the next year and a bit. Some facts and figures presented at recent authority meetings demonstrate there is scope in this space for each of us to lift our game. Let's take two Maritime NZ examples first: The Maritime NZ investigations team has analysed the number of participants in the SSM system by type who have been contacted by them for the first six months of this year. Their conclusion was the revealing aspect of this analysis was our lack of interaction with SSM companies. This has not been intentional but has now been highlighted as an area that has to be improved. We are working at involving SSM companies on any form of investigation and developing methods to ensure they are informed of any results. Some people have said SSM is working okay because the accident statistics don't necessarily support the authority's claim that it isn't. However, this ignores the fact that as well as these statistics, we need to take into account the impact SSM has had on the risk profile for vessels in the system. While there is evidence the risk profile supports the need for change, what is clear is that I don't think we have managed our approach to this as systematically as we could have. We are now looking at how we can best do that. Now, two examples from the industry: The first relates to the Maritime NZ risk profile example. While our work in this area is in its early stages, results from safety inspections assess a significant proportion of vessels as high risk, with 19 percent of vessels failing their inspections by Maritime NZ last year, even though the surveyor had previously passed the vessels as fit. Twenty-six percent of all the commercial fishing injuries in 2009 and 2010 were caused by "failure of vessel, structure or equipment". These examples provide my second insight. Maritime NZ has access to information that supports our aim of targeting our relatively scarce resources where they will deliver the best "safety effect". To ensure we can carry SSM across the line and ensure MOSS delivers the expected benefits, we need to work systematically to ensure we collect the right information, for the right reasons. We then need to make sure we ask the right "So what?" questions of it, so we can use this information to make any necessary changes and communicate the lessons learned for the benefit of the industry and the authority. This leads to my third insight, which is directly related to the other two. If SSM fails to deliver appropriate safety outcomes over the next year or so, we will both have to deal with the consequences for our reputation. However, we should be very clear that the consequences for those who work and use the vessels in SSM could be far greater – death or serious injury. Ph 09 438 6884, Fax 09 438 6852, Email sales@seamac.co.nz 11 Finlayson St, Whangarei. 36 Professional Skipper November/December 2011 On the other hand, it represents a great opportunity for us to work together to lay the sound foundations and build the right culture and relationships that will ensure MOSS is able to deliver the improved safety outcomes expected of it. VIP.S77