The proper familiarization of new crew members to the vessel is an important part of ensuring that accidents and incidents are avoided. While many seafarers joining vessels are highly experienced, often they lack specific knowledge of the vessel they are to join. These gaps in knowledge can result in major problems should an unexpected or emergency situation arise.

The Master or relevant head of department must never presume that a new joiner has the necessary level of experience on the vessel to operate effectively. In every circumstance they must satisfy themselves through proper observation and assessment that the crew member is capable of performing at an appropriate level of competence.

This section describes the familiarisation procedure for new crew members along with details of routine and additional training that will be carried out.

All crew members who are “new” to the vessel must be properly familiarized in the safety related aspects of the vessel as soon as possible after they join.

A “new” crew member is a crew member who has not sailed on the vessel before, or who has not sailed on the vessel in the previous twelve months.

Each new crew member must complete form FG05 Crew Familiarisation as soon as possible after joining the vessel. This describes the familiarization that is required to be carried out. A copy of this form is to be retained in the Crew Record.

The company will prepare a drill schedule for all statutory and other safety/security related drills which must be completed on the vessel throughout the year. This schedule may be in paper or electronic form.It is the responsibility of the Master to ensure that all drill required by the company are completed prior to the date they become due.

When planning and executing a Drill, Refer to B08 Emergency Preparedness & Response for drill procedure.

At the end of each drill, a debriefing must be held to review the effectiveness of the drill. The Safety Officer must record the facts, analysis of the emergency responses, conclusions and any recommendations for improvement. For these purposes the Safety Officer should use the reporting format available in SafetyCulture. If for whatever reason, a Safety Culture report is not possible, the paper form FS08 Drill Report is to be completed and handed to the Master. The Master must pass the form to the Company. 

Any suggested improvements should be recorded and forwarded to the Company.

On completion of every drill a report summarizing the key details of the drill must be prepared. As a minimum, this report must include:
 Details of those involved
 Details of the exercise planned
 An accurate log of all key activities carried out during the drill
 The overall “outcome” of the drill (i.e. was it generally successful?, were there problems?)
 Any defects/findings/learning opportunities uncovered during the drill.

Photographs should be taken during drills and included in the drill report.

The report should be signed by the Master and submitted to the Ship Management Team at completion of each drill.

Drill Schedule and Records are also to be maintained onboard the ship in order to demonstrate to auditors/inspectors that the required drills have been carried out successfully. Generally, the Company drill report form (or layout) must be used for this purpose.

As a minimum, the following drills must be carried out onboard at the intervals indicated here.

1. Safety Drills

Weekly:
- Fire, Lifeboat & Abandon Ship Drill

Monthly:
- Rescue Boat Lowered to Water and Run

3-Monthly:
- Emergency Steering Gear
- Breathing Apparatus
- Use of Immersion Suits
- Entering and Rescue from an Enclosed Space (other than a tank)*
- Entering and Rescue from an Enclosed Tank
- Response to a Pollution Incident
- Use of EEBD's
- Simulated Lifeboat Launch - Boat lowered and run in water
- Use of Line Throwing Equipment

6-Monthly:
- Failure of the Main Engine
- Failure of Electrical Power (Blackout)
- Man Overboard
- Launch of the Freefall Lifeboat an Operation in Water with Operating Crew
- Release of CO2
- Medical Drill/ Rescue of a Person

Annual:
- Flooding
- Grounding
- Collision
- Cargo Shift


2. Security Drills
A security drill is to be carried out every month, and each of the following situations are to be thoroughly covered:
- Pirate Attack
- Access Control Measures at Level 2
- Securing the Ship at Level 3
- Bomb Threat and Search
- Crowd Control
- Stowaway Search
- Communicating with the Port Facility Security Officer
- Activating the SSAS
- Preparing to Leave Port on Short Notice


3. Ship-Shore Drill
A ship-shore safety drill is to be carried out every year.
A ship-shore security drill is to be carried out every year.

Continuous development of personnel is essential to ensuring operational safety and efficiency onboard and throughout the company.

Training is an ongoing process. It is not something that occurs at a “moment in time” and then is forgotten about. All training must be followed up with appropriate guidance and support from those with knowledge and experience and every opportunity should be taken to reinforce the learning on a day to day basis.

The company strives at all times to ensure that the necessary resources, equipment and conditions are in place to enable effective training to be carried out. The company recognizes and provides three types of training as required:


1. Shipboard Training
This is training carried out onboard the vessel and is usually conducted by members of the ship’s crew. Shipboard training can range from routine exercises to one-off training based on a specific need.

Where shipboard training is combined with a drill, there is no need to carry out an additional training exercise.


2. Computer Based Training
The company will provide computer based training via the SafetyCulture training module. Each crew member is required to have a user account and complete any training assigned to them.


3. Shore-Side Training
Shore-Side training will be carried out where the resources required to effectively carry out training onboard are not available or where the specialist nature of the training means it can only effectively be completed in a recognized facility.

Each year, after assessing the needs of the ship and those onboard her, the company will prepare a training plan for the vessel detailing the training that is to be carried out throughout the course of the next twelve months. The Master is responsible for implementing this plan. 

The Master is to arrange for monthly whole crew training on safety and emergency systems and equipment. This training must be carried out a a suitable time so that all but the most essential crew are able to participate. 

No crew member may miss more than one session in any three month period.

The training is to be mixed between information and live demonstration. 

The following training modules must be completed (one each month):
- Lifeboat(s)
- Rescue Boat(s)
- Liferaft(s)
- Immersion Suits
- Pyrotechnics, Line Throwing Devices and Lifebuoys
- Emergency Communication (GMDSS, Radio, Satellite Comms, Signals)
- Fire Main System
- Portable Fire Extinguishers
- Fixed CO2 Fire Fighting System
- Fixed Water Mist System
- Fire Flaps and Dampers

The Company will ensure that an assessment is provided which all crew must complete successfully after the training has been completed.

For each module, the Company will provide a training guide.

This is not a replacement for safety drills, but is intended to deepen crew members knowledge of key safety systems.