Kerrie Forster, Safety Forum Chair
On Thursday 17th January 2019, NWA members travelled to Windemere Lakeside Hotel to attend the 1st NWA Safety Forum of the year, prior to the annual Dinner and AGM. Notably, due to the combination of events, we saw a strong turnout, with around 50 members present to air their views and share their experiences.
The main agenda of the forum was to sum-up the Forum’s activities in 2018, and share feedback from safety-related industry events that took place towards the end of the year – notably the IMCA Renewables Committee and DfT Clean Maritime Council.
Creating a firm benchmark for safety performance
Following the Safety pause (a time given for members to discuss confidentially current safety concerns and incident experiences) the subject moved on to Incident and Accident statistics. It was agreed that, in 2019, we would continue to use the existing safety statistics submission process in order to create a firm benchmark that supports ongoing analysis of key trends.
It was noted that, without getting more members to submit their safety statistics, it remains difficult to achieve a true representation of standards across the industry. To encourage members to submit their data, a raffle will be held on the 27th February at the Offshore Wind focused Safety Forum being held at Siemens Gamesa UK HQ in Newcastle. All members whose statistics have been received prior to that date will be automatically entered the draw and the winner selected via a VIP lucky dip.
New guidance proposed
Following MCA updates regarding the newly published UK Workboat code, the potential for an “under 500gt (large) Workboat code” and clarity on the “Germany (BG Verkehr) – Masters’ Certification Issue,” a discussion was held regarding the potential to extend the NWA Good Practice Guideline series to include further Towing scopes (including Ship Assist) and to update the Offshore Energy Support Vessels good practice guide. Sub-groups have been selected to take these proposals further.
Next time…
It was agreed that we will organize a return of the Safety Forum to the Seawork International show in Southampton, though this year in a shorter 1.5 hour version. Members were asked to propose ideas for target subjects to be discussed at the event, as we aim to make the most of this limited time. It was generally supported that Means of access should be a focal point, but further suggestions or ideas are gratefully received.
2019-01-31 09:00:00.0
