A safety animation to inform of the risks of routine tasks and how to avoid them.
Familiar tasks can sometimes create a false sense of confidence, leading seafarers to skip essential steps or take shortcuts. Many incidents occur during routine operations when risks are underestimated or assumptions replace careful judgement.
The latest Good Catch message highlights the importance of recognising these moments and stopping before a shortcut is taken.
Make a Good Catch by recognizing when a shortcut is being considered and choosing the safer course of action.
The emphasis on routine tasks also highlights the importance of a strong safety culture, where seafarers feel empowered to pause, reassess and speak up before a small shortcut or assumption develops into a serious incident.
To prevent familiarity from turning routine work into a safety hazard, seafarers should maintain the same level of attention and discipline as they would during less familiar operations.
Key practices include:
- Follow established procedures: Do not skip steps simply because a task has been performed many times before.
- Pause before starting: Take a moment to identify potential hazards and consider whether conditions have changed.
- Avoid shortcuts: If a task cannot be completed safely using the available procedure or equipment, stop and reassess rather than improvising.
- Use the correct PPE and equipment: Familiarity with a task should never lead to reduced use of protective equipment.
- Communicate with the team: Make sure everyone involved understands the task, associated hazards and their responsibilities.
- Stay alert to changing conditions: Vessel movement, weather, machinery condition, fatigue or the work environment can introduce new risks.
- Speak up and stop the job: If something does not look or feel right, raise the concern and stop the operation until it can be carried out safely.
- Learn from near misses: Report and discuss “good catches” and near misses so that lessons from routine operations can be shared across the crew.
Watch the video at the following link.
https://www.american-club.com/page/good-catch-famous-last-words-en