In SwedishThemes
Safety officers celebrate centenary with their own Safety Day
The first safety officers were appointed in Sweden in 1912. It was a difficult commission when they started, with the risk of losing your job if there was a dispute with the employer. But over the years the role of safety delegate has been strengthened, and now they have the right to stop dangerous work as the ultimate measure.
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Crewmembers’ work has led to great improvements
A new changing room, network cables for cabins, a gym and changes in the galley. Improvement work on M/S Gotland has been going on ever since its delivery nine years ago. Most major projects have been driven by the local Safety Committee.
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Better risk assessments with help from the crew
Simple, clear templates for risk assessments. Suggestions for how risks can be examined methodically and texts that explain the importance of doing it. On commission from Wallenius, Ida Larsson is working out a clearer concept of work environment and safety in the shipping company.
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Smoking in cabins a sensitive issue
The number of non-smoking areas onboard is increasing. Many appreciate the tougher rules but the smoking ban in cabins is still a sensitive issue.
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MLC - could be the beginning of the end for flags of convenience
“We should not count on too much at the start, but basically this is the instrument that has been missing to get rid of flags of convenience.” Chief Inspector Jan Borgman at the Transport Agency in Göteborg has great faith in the new maritime labour convention.
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Delegated work environment activities
In shipping companies with 10 or more employees, delegation of work environment tasks to ships must be done in writing. Only tasks can be transferred, and never responsibility.
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Adult bullying – subtle nastiness or open attack
Do you usually describe the talk at your working place as “raw but friendly?” If so, watch out! That sort of communication climate may well be a breeding ground for bullying.
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Sexual harassment led to speech disorder
Her self-esteem was at rock bottom. She became uncertain, found it difficult to formulate her words and started to stutter. After being subjected to severe sexual harassment, Emilia Åhfelt Dimitriadis now works to discourage bullying at workplaces.
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Leadership theme at SAN conference
Dare to be a leader. That was the theme of this year’s SAN conference held in Göteborg in October. The day started with a review of this year’s superconvention for seafarers, which will probably come into force in 2012.
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This is how you should eat when your body is asleep
Eat a proper meal before you go to bed in the morning and eat a light snack when you wake up again. Don’t eat a full-fat sandwich at night. That is Meeri Ahlstedt’s advice, onboard diet expert.
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”Health visits inspire”
– I think about what I eat and I train regularly, so the health talk didn’t really give me anything new. But it was a good pep-talk and it is positive for everybody that the company takes up these issues.
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Visits to ship for better health
By making what are called “health visits”, Furetank is trying to improve the health of its personnel and raise their awareness of diet and exercise. The shipping company’s own health coach, Sussi Löfgren, is behind this initiative.
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Thesis on leadership: ”Important to have trust and credibility”
– Good leadership is very much about attitudes towards other people. About showing that you have confidence in people and trust them to be capable and responsible.
Ten factors that affect employees’ engagement:
Vision and strategy
Trust in people
Active participation by management
Long-term thinking
Individual adaptation
Responsibility and authorities in work teams
Opportunity to influence
Learning
Share of profits
These are the words of [...]
Wanted: flexible leadership
Many would agree that good managers are important for well-being as well as work onboard. But what exactly is good leadership? How would employees like their manager to be, and how do captains themselves view their job? Last summer SAN news paid a visit to the new bulk ship Östanvik to talk about leadership. The [...]
Full-time work environment duties
The management of the Rosella has got to grips with the work environment onboard by holding frequent safety committee meetings and having designated safety officers. Viking Line’s full-time chief safety officer, Bent Björn-Nielsen, supports all of this.
Captain is key person for better work environment
Keen safety officers are good, but knowledgeable and engaged captains are also necessary if work environment activities are to make any real progress, according to Karl-Arne Johanson at Seko Seafarers. He is pinning a lot of hopes on a new work environment course that is under development at SAN.
Drugs testing effective – if done professionally
Testing is one method for checking that the rules of the shipping company are followed. However, you have to be aware of unprofessional testing companies and poor quality measuring instruments, says Olof Beck, professor of pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet in Solna.
Zero tolerance onboard appreciated
Banning alcohol onboard is a good thing. It raises safety levels, discussions are avoided about how much is acceptable to drink, and colleagues with alcohol problems are not constantly subjected to temptation. That is how the crew on the Sirius Olympus view the situation.
The necessary talk
Somebody looks rough when it is time to be on watch. He or she perhaps smells of alcohol sometimes, has a hangover or seems to be drunk. This is the time for you, as an officer or HR manager ashore, to have a talk with the person.
Seafarers in risk group for alcohol problems
Zero tolerance is not a good method for preventing alcohol problems onboard. It is more successful to have an open dialogue about drinking habits.
