Health & Safety

The white paper uncovers troubling lapses in maritime fire safety practices. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

A Survitec white paper highlighting maritime fire safety risks has won the Safety in Maritime (Marine) award at the IBJ Awards

The paper, titled "Why Are the Fires Not Going Out? Unveiling the True Cost of Inadequate Fire Safety Inspections", exposes the widespread failures in fire safety practices that have led to an alarming increase in shipboard fire incidents worldwide.

Drawing on data and testimonies from Survitec’s certified service technicians, the white paper uncovers troubling lapses in fire safety practices. According to the paper, some ship operators are relying on untrained crews for fire safety maintenance due to post-COVID cost-cutting measures. These practices have led to avoidable system failures, such as the use of incorrect or counterfeit parts, poorly fitted equipment, and contamination of essential firefighting systems. Survitec also highlights instances of substandard inspections and approvals where safety certifications were granted despite obvious deficiencies.

Metkel Yohannes, director of Service & Rental Solutions at Survitec, said, “Shipboard fires have risen by 17% year-on-year, becoming one of the leading causes of maritime losses and the most expensive source of marine insurance claims, accounting for over 20% of total losses.

“While advancements in fire detection and protection technologies have been made, the industry is still seeing alarming levels of fire safety deficiencies, with thousands of incidents reported each year by international inspection authorities. This highlights an urgent need for improved oversight and maintenance practices across the sector.”

One example highlighted a vessel that experienced an engine room fire. While the crew successfully extinguished the flames, they discovered a fault in their high-expansion foam firefighting system, caused by a protective cap left inside the system after the installation of a new foam pump.

In another instance, a fire broke out aboard a bulk carrier in early 2024 after more than half the recently inspected and certified CO2 cylinders failed to activate.

The study also raises concerns about the growing risks of alternative fuels and lithium-ion batteries, which require specialised detection and firefighting systems. Survitec argues for more stringent oversight of service providers, urging the maritime industry to adopt higher quality control benchmarks and ensure that all fire safety inspections meet rigorous international standards.

Yohannes concluded, “Shipowners and operators need accredited partners with the expertise to ensure their safety systems perform under the most demanding conditions. Anything less is not only a false economy but a threat to crew safety and vessel integrity.”

Brady will be demonstrating its safety signs at ADIPEC. (Image source: Brady)

In today's fast-paced industrial environment, ensuring workplace safety is paramount

Clear and effective communication is key to preventing accidents and maintaining efficient operations.

Brady offers a comprehensive range of identification solutions, including pipemarkers, safety signs, and industrial printers, designed to enhance safety and streamline processes in challenging environments. With Brady, you can ensure that your workplace is safer, more productive, and compliant with industry regulations.

Efficient and safe operations with clear and durable pipemarkers

Pipemarking plays a crucial role in ensuring efficient and safe operations within industrial facilities. Clearly visible and legible pipe markers that indicate pipe contents and flow direction help maintenance crews quickly identify pipes needing servicing and valves that require shutdown. This not only increases efficiency but also prevents accidents by warning employees, contractors, and first responders about potential hazards.

Brady’s wide range of pipemarking solutions are designed to withstand elements in offshore/marine conditions, petrochemical plants, or any industrial environments. Our pipemarkers are available in three quality levels, ensuring durability and legibility in even the harshest circumstances. We can customize pipemarkers to include specific pipe, contents, and flow information tailored to your needs.

Safety signs: immediate communication of critical information

Safety signs are essential for communicating important information quickly and effectively. Using internationally recognized pictograms, these signs can prohibit, warn, caution, mandate requirements, evacuate, or locate firefighting equipment. Brady's safety signs guarantee 100% compliance with local legal regulations. We offer a variety of materials in our standard range to suit different environmental conditions and customer preferences.

Be flexible with Brady’s DIY printing solutions

For those seeking a DIY alternative, Brady provides world-class printing solutions that enable customers to create their own safety signs, pipemarkers, and floor markings. Our professional safety and facility identification printers and software empower you to take control of workplace identification, ensuring compliance with safety regulations and enhancing efficiency.

Why our have satisfied customer chosen  Brady Printing Solutions:
• Fast: Design and print identification materials quickly, eliminating the need for lengthy delivery times.
• Customizable: Easily add custom messages, logos, and create unique combinations of signs in various sizes and shapes.
• Cost-effective: Avoid unnecessary label stock by printing only what you need.

It is important to highlight the fact Brady's printers utilize advanced inks and durable label materials to ensure maximum durability, even when exposed to UV light, moisture, heat, cold, chemicals, harsh washdown cycles, and abrasion.

Brady's commitment to safety and quality

We are proud to announce our new modern facility in Saudi Arabia, where we have regional capability to manufacture custom safety signs, pipemarking labels, and safety tags. Need our expertise? Our dedicated sales team in KSA is ready to assist you with an on site assessment, free of cost.

Visit us at ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi (4-7 November, 2024) to learn more about our products and services. We are welcoming our guests in Hall 10 booth number 10530. Visitors can print their own labels and signs on our label printers, grab some samples to test them in their environments and discuss any safety challenges they are facing in their facilities.

Learn more about solutions for increased workplace safety from Brady!

BRADY Corporation in Middle East
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For more details, visit: https://www.brady.eu/

The article discusses how the neuroscience behind Critical Error Reduction Techniques aligns with safety practices. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Larry Wilson, author and CEO, SafeStart, looks at how neuroscience aligns with critical error reduction techniques

As we continue our series on Paradigm Shifts in safety (if you haven’t yet, catch up at https://ae.safestart.com/paradigm-shifts/), we encourage you to dive into the seventh article of the twelve-part series.

In the last issue, we discussed the concept of self-triggering; the importance of learning how to self-trigger quickly, or at least quickly enough to prevent making a critical error, which means that we must train the sub-conscious mind. Now, to a certain extent, we have already discussed the importance of involving or using the sub-conscious mind to prevent injuries when we talked about developing good habits with eyes on task, so that if or when your mind goes off task, you’ll still, most likely, get the benefit of your reflexes.

Habits and reflexes are not things we are deciding to do in the moment with our conscious mind. They are both sub-conscious. All this is where the neuroscience comes in. Until recently (last 10 years or so) scientists and psychologists could speculate as to what part of the brain was being used. But it wasn’t until FMRI’s that they could prove it. And I think that it’s interesting how the neuroscience and the Critical Error Reduction Techniques (CERTs) are aligned or how the neuroscience supports or validates the CERTs. But my dad, who is an engineer, was unimpressed. When I explained it to him, he said that it was one of the best examples of, “Locking the door after the horse has got out” he’d ever heard.

So, he’s got a point. But it’s still pretty interesting. And it is science which always helps when dealing with sceptics. So, we’re going to get into at least a bit of it as we go through all four CERTs. Two of which we have discussed already: work on habits, or work on improving your safety-related habits and self-triggering on the states (rushing, frustration, fatigue) so you don’t make a critical error. And obviously, this has to happen quickly.

Even if it’s only a split-second too late, it’s still too late. And to get close to reflex speed, we need to use the sub-conscious mind. The conscious mind just isn’t quick enough. Ironically, training the sub-conscious mind—isn’t quick—and when you think about learning arithmetic, it wasn’t always exciting either. To give you an example of speed, repetition, and the power of the sub-conscious mind, just answer the following question as quickly as you can: What is 3 x 4? You probably already have the answer in your head before you read it here. It’s 12. That’s how quick your sub-conscious mind is. But how many repetitions did it take to get that quick—so you didn’t have to process anything? And very reliable: almost impossible to get it wrong… now try quickly 13 x 14.

To find out the answer to the last question (without checking your calculator) and explore how the neuroscience behind Critical Error Reduction Techniques aligns with safety practices, continue reading the full article clicking here. Stay with us as we delve deeper into the power of the subconscious mind and its role in preventing critical errors.

Scan the QR Code below to read the article in its entirety: 

Understanding and leveraging the benefits of reflexes offers a powerful opportunity to prevent serious injuries. (Image source: SafeStart)

When discussing risk management and workplace safety, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is often regarded as the last line of defence. This traditional approach, doesn’t account for the most basic protective measures, especially those involving mechanical or kinetic energy.

The role of reflex actions in preventing incidents is a critical factor which is often overlooked. Understanding and leveraging the benefits of reflexes offers a powerful opportunity to prevent serious injuries and fatalities in the workplace.

The traditional model of safety management follows the hierarchy of controls, which places PPE as the last line of defence, a final measure after other controls have failed. However, in certain cases, PPE functions as an escalation control, protecting workers after an incident has already begun. Seat belts, fall arrest harness and similar gear do not prevent accidents but aim to reduce the severity of injuries once an error has occurred. While PPE plays an important role, reflex actions serve as the true last line of defence and the first line of protection in many scenarios.

The Bowtie Model helps illustrate this by mapping sources of hazardous energy—whether mechanical, chemical, thermal, electrical, or biological—and categorising controls into prevention and mitigation. In most cases (over 90%), mechanical or kinetic energy is the source of serious workplace injuries and fatalities, and as a result reflexes or whether the person will get the benefit of their reflexes becomes a critical factor in terms of the potential severity of the outcome. Outside the controlled work environment, where situations are more unpredictable, reflex actions often determine the difference between a close call or near-miss and a fatality. For instance, a reflexive movement could help a pedestrian avoid being hit by an oncoming vehicle.

Traditional safety practices tend to focus on high-risk activities through rules, procedures, and PPE. However, the majority of serious incidents occur during medium or low-risk tasks. Data from over 400 fatal workplace incident reports shows that 47-71% of these fatalities could have been avoided or lessened had the workers benefited from reflexive responses.

The data also reveals that in over 95% of incidents, the unexpected event that caused the injury stems from the individual themselves. Whether it’s due to rushing, fatigue, frustration, or complacency, human factors play a critical role in workplace safety. Reflexes are key to mitigating incidents in these medium to lower-risk scenarios, where more traditional controls may not be as effective.

The role of reflexes in preventing serious injuries

Reflexes are innate to humans and tested at birth to ensure they function properly. However, whether someone gets the benefit of their reflexes is influenced by human factors such as rushing, frustration, fatigue and complacency, which can cause eyes not on task and mind not on task. If a person’s mind is not on task due to complacency, their reflexes can still help prevent accidents, even if the reflex is a bit slower. But if their eyes are also off task, then they might not get a reflex at all, which can significantly increase the risk of a serious injury or fatality.

External factors like technology can exacerbate the issue. Mobile phones and fast-paced environments condition our brains to experience shorter bursts of focus, leaving us vulnerable to distractions.

This highlights the importance of critical error reduction techniques, such as self-triggering on states like rushing, frustration and fatigue, as individuals can feel and identify these states in the moment and then quickly think about keeping their eyes and mind on task. Complacency, on the other hand, is more passive and harder to detect.

One way to counteract complacency is to build strong safety-related habits, such as maintaining visual awareness before moving hands, feet, body or machinery. These habits ensure that employees will still get the benefit of their reflexes even if their minds are not on task, because they will still be looking at what they are doing.

At an organisational level, addressing human factors is crucial for reducing incident rates. Employers can help by ensuring workers have adequate rest, hydration, and a work environment that minimises unnecessary stress. When examining the Bowtie Model, it becomes clear that human factors like rushing, frustration, fatigue, and complacency need to be considered along with the various forms of hazardous energy as these factors lead to critical errors such as "eyes not on task" and "mind not on task," which can severely impact reflexive responses. By understanding and implementing critical error reduction techniques, organisations and individuals can add an extra layer of protection, leveraging reflexes as both a preventative and mitigation tool in workplace safety.

In conclusion, the role of human factors and reflexes and their significance as the real last line of defence and first line of protection has been largely overlooked in workplace safety. Organisations that focus on enhancing cognitive effectiveness and reflexive responses have a much better chance of preventing serious incidents or reducing their consequences.

To explore the full insights from Larry Wilson and Dr Waddah S Al Hashmi on workplace safety and reflexes, read the complete article at https://ae.safestart.com/article/the-hierarchy-of-controls-and-the-bowtie-model/