Report: Fifty percent of Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) crews willing to compromise safety

OSV Illustration

Some 50% of crews working on offshore support vessels are willing to compromise safety rather than say ‘no’ to clients or senior management, while nearly 80% believe commercial pressures could influence the safety of their working practices.

The chilling findings, released to coincide with this week’s International Maritime Organization Maritime Safety Committee meeting, come from a new report on workboat and OSV safety commissioned by operations and maintenance management software specialist Helm Operations.

“The Impact of Crew Engagement and Organizational Culture on Maritime Safety in the Workboats and OSV Sectors” is the first maritime safety study specific to workboats and OSVs and will be finalized in time for World Maritime Day 2015, on September 26.

The independent report will summarize six months of research by Dr Kate Pike and Emma Broadhurst of Southampton Solent University. It draws on original analysis of Port State Control detention records, feedback from 50 offshore companies, incident case studies, and input from leaders in best practice.

“This is a major contribution to knowledge in the industry, highlighting the link between the human element and safety performance in this distinct sector,” says Ron deBruyne, CEO and Founder of Helm Operations. “It tests often repeated regulatory assumptions, establishes the realities of workboat and OSV safety, and provides key recommendations aimed at improving maritime safety.”

Despite the inherently risky nature of their work, many workboats are not bound by SOLAS or the International Safety Management (ISM) Code. Both the Paris and the Tokyo Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) data show that 27% of workboat deficiencies relate to certificates and documentation, the report says.

“This report identifies shortcomings in current safety cultures, and makes recommendations on how the workboat and OSV sectors can enhance and audit safe working practices,” says deBruyne.

An online survey drawing on 50 key offshore companies saw 34% of respondents saying their company needed to offer additional operational and technical training. Worryingly, 50% found it difficult to say ‘no’ to a client or senior staff demanding actions that might compromise safety. Some 78% of respondents believed that commercial pressures could influence safety.

“We’re concerned that the research also confirms how under-reporting of near misses can undermine an entire safety culture,” says deBruyne. “This is partly due to the repercussions of reporting. Better safety management procedures, improved safety culture and crew wellbeing mean lower workboat and OSV deficiencies and detentions.”

To support this contention, the report identifies a set of eight safety criteria to help companies establish safety management systems that follow the principles set out in the ISM Code. 

It offers recommendations on communication; empowerment of employees; feedback systems; mutual trust; problem identification; promotion of safety; responsiveness; and safety awareness.

‘The Impact of Crew Engagement and Organizational Culture on Maritime Safety in the Workboats and OSV Sectors’ will be available on September 26, to coincide with World Maritime Day.

Judge affirms OSHA findings in 2012 death of health care coordinator killed by mentally ill client with violent criminal history. Integra Health Management failed to protect employee from workplace violence hazards.

July 01, 2015

Judge affirms OSHA findings in 2012 death of health care coordinator
killed by mentally ill client with violent criminal history.

Integra Health Management failed to protect employee from workplace violence hazards.

TAMPA, Fla. - After the horrific murder of a Florida health care worker in 2012, an administrative law judge affirmed in June that her employer failed to protect her from workplace violence. 

Judge Dennis Phillips of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission determined Integra Health Management - now operating as Integra ServiceConnect LLC - did not protect Stephanie Ross, a 24-year-old social service coordinator. 

Her client, with severe mental illness and a violent criminal history, fatally stabbed Ross outside his home in December 2012. On-the-job for approximately three months, Ross had prior meetings with the man and recorded in her case notes that she was uncomfortable being alone with him.

Like other social service coordinators, Ross visited dangerous and violent clients in their homes and coordinated case management. To perform mental and physical health assessments, she transported clients in her vehicle. 

"The safety of social service workers in the field is a serious concern. Many face threats and violence in the workplace. Integra put its workers at risk of injury or worse by choosing not to implement commonly recognized safety practices and protocols," said Leslie Grove, OSHA's director of the Tampa Area Office. 

"Employers must take every reasonable precaution to protect employees against safety and health hazards in the workplace, including physical assaults."
OSHA investigators found Integra knew the assailant had exhibited several high-risk behaviors - including a history of violence, criminal behavior, schizophrenia and paranoia - but took no steps to protect its employee. 

The agency also discovered multiple incidents where Integra employees were victims of aggression and verbal and physical threats from clients. OSHA concluded that the company did not conduct a hazard assessment of the service coordinator position or develop a written program to prevent workplace violence hazards. 

Investigators issued two serious citations with full penalties to Integra in March 2013 for failing to protect employees from violence in the workplace and not reporting Ross' death to OSHA. The company contested the citations that went before the commission for review. 

Judge Phillips found that Integra's approach to safety was inadequate, and the company should have taken precautions to prevent injury by hiring and training its employees appropriately. The citations bring penalties of $10,500.

In future health care industry inspections, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced recently that it would expand its enforcement resources to focus on workplace violence and other safety and health risks.

Based in Owings Mills, Maryland, Integra Health Management is a health care service company specializing in community-based nonclinical support for individuals with health care and related social service needs. Integra contracts with insurance companies to perform mental and physical health assessments and coordinates case management for high-risk, high-cost members. It operates in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. 

On June 25, OSHA announced that it added musculoskeletal disorders, bloodborne pathogens, workplace violence, tuberculosis and slips, trips and falls as key hazards for investigators to focus on in health care inspections. The action targets some of the most common causes of workplace injury and illness in the health care industry.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data from the preliminary Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries shows fatal work injuries in Florida accounted for 218 of the 4,405 fatal work injuries reported nationally in 2013. Additional details are available at http://www.bls.gov. 

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Tampa Area Office at 813-626-1177.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

141 bodies recovered from Lockheed C-130 Hercules Indonesia military plane crash

Rescuers search for victims at the site where an air force cargo plane crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. The Hercules C-130 plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in the country's third-largest city Medan. (AP Photo/Yudha Lesmana)

Associated Press June 30, 2015 | 10:36 p.m. EDT + More

MEDAN, Indonesia (AP) — 

An Indonesian police official says more than 140 bodies have been recovered from the crash of a military plane in Medan.

Rescue teams are searching rubble in the residential neighborhood where the plane crashed Tuesday but hold out little hope of finding survivors.

North Sumatra police major A. Tarigan told TVOne on Wednesday that 141 bodies have been recovered.

Air force chief Air Marshal Agus Supriatna said there were 122 people on the plane.

Freight train derailment delays train traffic, blocks roads in Robertson County, TN

 

  June 30, 2015 

ROBERTSON COUNTY, TN 

An early morning train derailment in Robertson County delayed train traffic and blocked some rural roads Tuesday.

The 101 car train was on its way to San Antonio from Wisconsin, when it derailed. 

It was carrying drilling sand, a non hazardous material, but it did damage about 100 feet of track that must be repaired before rail traffic can resume.

Some rural roads were blocked initially by the derailment. There were no injuries reported.

Union Pacific Train Derails In Rural Central Texas, Second Derailment in 18 Days

(Photo courtesy of Michelle Yezak)

BREMOND (June 30, 2015) 

Fourteen cars of a Union Pacific train derailed early Tuesday in a rural area south of Bremond in Robertson County.

The cars, which were hauling sand, derailed at around 5 a.m. Tuesday along state Highway 14 between Carroll Bashinski Road and Tidwell Prairie Road.

There were no reports of injuries.

The train was bound from Wisconsin to San Antonio.

The derailment was the second in a little more than two weeks.

On June 12 ten cars loaded with corn derailed in Kosse, about 10 miles north of Bremond in neighboring Limestone County.

No one was hurt.

72-year old motorcyclist killed after crushed by the FrontRunner train in Ogden, Utah

 

JUNE 30, 2015

OGDEN, Utah

 A motorcyclist is dead after he was struck by a FrontRunner train in Ogden Tuesday night.

The male was traveling west on 2nd Street when he collided with the lowered railroad crossing gate and crashed on the tracks at 500 West, according to tweets from Ogden police.

The male was then struck by the passing train. Police say he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim is believed to be 72 years old. Police are currently working on contacting next of kin.

It is currently unknown if there were any passengers were on the train at the time of the crash.

Accident under investigation. Confirmed front runner collided with a male (unknown identity & age) at this time. It is believed the

— OGDEN_POLICE (@OGDEN_POLICE) July 1, 2015

Male was operating a motorcycle west on 2nd St., collided with the lowered railroad crossing gate and crashed on the tracks

— OGDEN_POLICE (@OGDEN_POLICE) July 1, 2015

Ogden police is working with Utah Transit Authority on this accident.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.

Fiery collision between two semi-trucks closed I-295 in Virginia

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. 

Both drivers made it out of their tractor-trailer trucks on their own following a fiery crash Tuesday morning that closed northbound Interstate 295, near Route 895 (Pocahontas Parkway), in eastern Henrico. 

The accident, near exit 25, was first reported at 8:23 a.m.. The first emergency crews that arrived at the scene described the crash as “horrific.”

“The impact of the crash caused one of the tractor-trailers to catch fire. Neither driver was injured in the crash,” Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. “The left lane was reopened by 9:30 a.m. 

One of the trucks is loaded with bottled water. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.”

“The fire was quickly extinguished on the tractor trailer,” Henrico Fire spokesman Captain Daniel Rosenbaum said. “There was a small fuel leak that was also contained and prevented to enter waterway.”

The left lane of I-295 reopened at about 10 a.m.

“The right and center lanes remain closed,” VDOT advised. “The detour has been lifted. The backup is now two miles. Continue to expect delays.”