Safety - The Zero-Injury Target
In 2002 IMCA issued a statement of its target for offshore safety - zero-injuries.
This is, by its very nature, a hard target to meet. However, every incident has consequences - for the people involved, who may be injured or worse, their families and colleagues, in terms of damage to equipment, through lost up-time and in financial and business terms for the company involved. For this reason IMCA and its members continue to strive to eliminate incidents from our industry.
Our website (and this 'safety' area in particular) sets out the extensive technical work programme set by the Association, including dissemination of vital information on lessons learned from incidents, production of industry best practice guidance on safer ways of working, development of safety promotion materials, seminars and workshops for the sharing of good practice and new ideas, and more.
Press Release
IMCA MEMBERS ON ACTIVE DRIVE TOWARDS ZERO INJURY GOAL
Annual safety statistics of its members’ performance have been published by IMCA - The International Marine Contractors Association - every year for the past five years. Although only a lagging indicator of health, safety and environmental performance, these statistics are nonetheless seen as providing a useful insight into the performance of a company in this area.
The annual exercise is well supported by IMCA members with 31 contractor companies, representing 65.6 million hours worked, contributing to the statistics in 2000. There has been a progressive year-on-year improvement in the lost time injury frequency rate.
This encouraging sign has resulted in the IMCA Council publishing a statement of intent that: "The target for IMCA is an injury-free work place. As part of the process to achieve this, a substantial continuous improvement in the LTIFR (lost time incident frequency rate) figures is to be achieved in 2002 by making use of the IMCA initiatives and by each member’s use of its safety management system. Accordingly, IMCA encourages all members to set aggressive targets in order to achieve the ultimate goal of an injury free workplace."
IMCA President, John Smith, writing in the IMCA Newsletter, states: "Much effort has been made by individual members and by IMCA on SHE through 2001 and I am sure that the statistics will show another significant improvement - giving us a record to be proud of. However, I have just learned of the death of a diver in an operation in Mexico. We must never let up until we eliminate injury from our industry. Complacency is the enemy."
IMCA’s last set of statistics (for 2000) published in Summer 2001 showed frequency rates continued on a downward trend. The lost time injury frequency rate was 3.46 per million hours worked compared to 3.72 in 1999, 4.86 in 1998, 4.96 in 1997. "Our members have worked hard to achieve this record of ever-decreasing accidents," says Tony Read, the Association’s Chief Executive. "We know they will grasp the nettle and go all out to achieve that zero target."
IMCA safety related initiatives aimed to help members reach the zero injury goal include the safety flash system; development of appropriate leading safety indicators; guidance to share good practice; guidance on the initial and refresher familiarisation of vessel crews; and guidance on basic safety training for non-marine personnel on specialist vessels.
Last month saw IMCA’s Safety, Environment & Legislation Core Committee hold its first Working Safer Offshore - Safety, Health and the Environment in Marine Contracting Workshop (24 and 25 January 2002 at Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium). The one and a half day event brought together onshore and offshore managers responsible for safety with operation personnel to discuss a diverse range of offshore safety issues and to share best practice.
Over 80 delegates registered from around the world including the UK, Scandinavia, mainland Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and one member company took the opportunity of the Workshop to get their management teams from all over the world together. Most were from offshore contractors but there were also client, specialist consultancy and regulatory representatives. All gathered to hear a range of thought-provoking presentations and enthusiastically participated in small group discussion sessions. IMCA has been contacted by a number of delegates, all very favourably impressed with the range and depth of safety issues discussed and the manner in which they were covered, which enabled a number of important lessons learned by those involved in safety management to be shared among those present. Topics covered and a report on the event can be found at www.imca-int.com/events
A printed volume of the proceedings has been prepared for all delegates, along with designated representatives of each IMCA member, with additional copies available on request to those working for IMCA member companies.
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