A safe working environment needs effort from all involved. Learning from mistakes and near misses, talking, looking out for one another are all vital elements of keeping our ship and each other safe.

This section is a guide which is to be supplemented by the requirements of the UK Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seafarers (COSWP).

It is a requirement of the Company, and is essential to the safety of the ship, that safety meetings are held at least monthly. The meeting is to involve all crew, and can be chaired by anyone onboard who is willing to do so.

It is strongly recommended that crew, other than the Master, are able to chair this meeting.

The Chair is to encourage all members of the crew to actively raise safety relevant questions during this meeting. As a minimum, this meeting must cover the points listed in Form FA03A Minutes of Occupational Health and Safety Committee Meeting. The minutes are to be completed after every meeting and sent to the Company, who must respond to any points raised within one week of receiving the minutes.

While it is a requirement that the meeting is held at least monthly, a Safety Meeting can be held as often as required. Crew members are encouraged to request one be held if they have topics that should be discussed by all onboard. If the matter is urgent, the Master should not refuse such a request, but otherwise they can propose the topic be held until the next scheduled meeting.

Every request to hold a safety meeting, whether granted or not, must be reported to the Company. 

The Master is the Ship Health & Safety Officer (SHSO).

However, the Master can request, and the Managing Director can agree in writing, to delegate the duties of Ship Safety Officer to any other onboard Officer who meets the requirements to fulfil this role. The Company delegation, if granted, applies only to a single person for a single contract onboard, and if not renewed the responsibility reverts to the Master.

The Ship Safety Officer is responsible for overall safety of the vessel, and must take steps to actively ensure a safe working environment for all personnel. Amongst other things, their duties include:

• Look into all the potential hazards to the health and safety of the vessel and its crew
• Ensure that the crew maintains high standard of safety consciousness and is familiar with all of the important aspects of the ISM code related to safety
• Ensure that the provisions of the code of safe working practices and safety instructions, rules and guidance for the ship’s safety and health are complied with.
• Ensure that safety inspection of the vessel is carried out at least every three months or more frequently if required
• Help ship safety committee to take substantial steps for enhancing the safety of the ship
• To look into crew complaints related to health and safety
• Make recommendations to the master to remove a potential hazard which might lead to an accident or harm to the crew
• Help in making/maintaining an efficient safety management system (SMS)
• Provide information to the ship’s master regarding deficiencies related to ship’s health, safety, and security
• Properly investigate any accident involving death of a crew and major or minor accident
• Inform the master when someone from the crew fails to work according to the regulations mention in the ISM code
• Recommend important aspects related to safety in ship’s maintenance plan
• Maintain a record of all the accidents taking place on the ship, including death, major or minor injury, and near death experiences. Also, make this information available to the ship’s master, safety representative, or any official of the company
• Stop any vessel operation, which might cause damage to the vessel or harm to any of the crew and inform the Master so the necessary steps are taken. 

In some cases, organisations outside the Company must be informed when an HSQE Event takes place. It is important that all required parties are informed proactively, as there can be serious consequences for failing to report in good time.

In general, all major events (see above) need to be reported to the Flag State.

If the event results in possible damage to the vessel or its equipment, it is likely that the Classification Society needs to be informed.

If the event is a major event and it takes place in a port, the Port State may need to be informed.

If the event involves a discharge into the marine environment, and it happens in national waters the Coastal State usually needs to be informed.

In the event that an insurance claim is possible, the vessels insurers need to be informed.

The Company is to assess who needs to be informed once they receive a report of an HSQE Event and will advise the Master of any action they need to take.

At the end of each calendar quarter, the Company will arrange a Quarterly Company Health & Safety Call. This call will be a virtual call, and all shore based and shipboard team members (including those on leave) will be invited and encouraged to join and actively participate.

The agenda for each call is to be shared in advance, but it is to be used:
- To reinforce the Company's expectations around health and safety
- To highlight processes and procedures around health and safety
- To encourage reporting of HSE Occurrences
- To highlight key HSE events from the previous quarter and associated learnings
- To highlight any new risk areas
- To discuss any relevant occurrences from outside the Company

Input for the call must be sought from everyone in the Company.

As a minimum, a transcript of the call and all associated documents must be shared with everyone in the Company. Ideally, the call should be recorded and this made available.