By reporting HSQE events, you are helping keep you and your colleagues safe.

Every time something happens, it is an opportunity to learn and improve. By investigating, and taking the time to understand what caused it, we can make sure that measures are put in place to try and prevent it from ever happening again.

It is especially important to report near-misses. In these cases, we have been lucky - but luck never holds for long. Only by putting measures in place can we prevent a near miss on one day, turning into a serious or major incident on another.

You will never be penalised or thought badly of for reporting an HSQE event. In fact, the Company is extremely grateful to those who report them, and this will be reflected in your performance assessments. 

An HSQE Event is something that has happened onboard or to the ship that did or could have  had negative consequences for the ship itself, the crew, the marine environment, the cargo, another vessel or a port facility.

We can learn something from every HSQE Event.

HSQE Events are divided into categories for reporting purposes, but all should be investigated and measures put in place to prevent them happening again. The categories are:

Near Miss
A near miss is an event that could have resulted in harm or damage, but either by fortune or by someone intervening, it did not. These events are important learning opportunities.

Incident
An incident is an event that did in fact result in harm or damage. An incident can be minor or major, and this is defined by both the actual harm or damage caused as well as the potential harm that could have been caused.

Major incidents are incidents that result in: death of, or serious injury to, a person; the loss of a person from a ship; the loss, presumed loss or abandonment of a ship; material damage to a ship; the stranding or disabling of a ship, or the involvement of a ship in a collision or an allision; material damage to the marine infrastructure external to a ship, that could seriously endanger the safety of that ship, its occupants, another ship, property or any other person(s); and severe damage to the environment, or the potential for severe damage to the environment, brought about by a ship or ships.

Injury
An injury is an incident which specifically resulted in physical harm to a person or persons.

Equipment Damage
An incident which results only in damage to machinery or equipment onboard the ship is categorised as equipment damage.

All HSQE Events must be reported.

Any member of the ship’s crew or Company Ship Management Team who witnesses or is informed of an HSQE Event is required to make a report. There are two ways to report an HSQE Event:

SafetyCulture Report
The preferred method is to make a formal report in SafetyCulture. This ensures that all required information is completed and that the report is sent to the Company for review and action.

Reporting in SafetyCulture will ensure all required personnel are automatically informed of the reported HSQE Event.

Paper Report
If for whatever reason, a SafetyCulture report is not possible, the paper form S10 Initial Report is to be completed and handed to the Master.

The Master is to review the form, inform the Company and ensure that a report is also made in SafetyCulture.

Once the Company receives a report of an HSQE Event, the Managing Director will be informed, and the Company Ship Management Team will review the event either at their next daily call, or if the Managing Director decides it is necessary, at an urgent meeting.

The Company will decide the level of investigation required for any HSQE Event, however every event will be investigated and actions defined and implemented.

Any HSQE event that results in physical harm to a person or persons, or which results in a discharge into the marine environment, or which damages the structural integrity of the ship are classified as Major Events and must always result in a physical attendance at the ship by a member of the Company Ship Management Team as soon as possible.

The outcome of the investigation is to be recorded in writing and filed in SMMS.

All agreed corrective and preventative actions must be recorded and must have a target date for implementation. In general, the target should not exceed one month, however with the approval of the Managing Director this may be extended to three months.

Once actions have been implemented, this must be confirmed in SMMS.

TheCompany Ship Management Team will confirm the implementation of the actions at their next attendance at the vessel. In the case of Major Events, the Company is to confirm implementation as soon as possible after the vessel informs them that the actions have been implemented.

Timeframes
1. All Non-Conformities or HSE Events must be reported to the Company as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours after they take place.

2. The Company will acknowledge receipt of reports within 24 hours, and decide next steps (investigation, analysis or similar – in accordance with MSMS procedures) within 7 days of receiving the report.

3. In all cases, an action plan (corrective and preventative measures) is to be defined and communicated to all parties as soon as possible but in every case within 30 days of receipt of the report.

4. The target to implement all agreed actions is 30 days after the action plan is finalized, however in the case of non-conformities, this may be extended to 90 days with the written approval of the Managing Director.

In addition to the above requirements:
1. The ship will send the Company a copy of the medical logbook within 5 days of the end of every month, and

2. The ship will send the Company a status report within 5 days of the end of the month, showing progress towards fully implementing agreed actions.  

Corrective actions are actions which rectify the immediate problem or issue (sometimes called the "proximate cause") that either caused or resulted from the HSQE Event. A corrective action returns the situation to "normal", but does not necessarily mean that the Event will not happen again. An example of this could be, if a mooring line breaks and hurts someone, replacing the mooring line with a new one.

Preventative actions are those which are targeted at the underlying reason for the HSQE Event (sometimes called the "Root Cause"), and which are designed to make sure it cannot happen again. An example of this could be, using the mooring line situation above, increasing inspection of mooring line condition, making sure all crew know the risks of mooring lines, marking danger zones on deck, ensuring all mooring equipment is in good working order.

Identifying Preventative Actions is critical to any investigation, and ensuring they are implemented correctly is essential to ensure future harm is avoided. Preventative Actions can only be identified if the Root Cause (or causes) of an Event has been identified.