STANDARDS OF CARE SMALL PASSENGER VESSEL CONSIDERATIONS

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Rosemary Annis Boyd
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1 SMALL PASSENGER VESSEL CONSIDERATIONS 1 Rick Janelle Passenger Vessel Program Coordinator PO Box Seventeenth Coast Guard District Juneau, Alaska, fax rick.n.janelle@uscg.mil

2 2 Abstract Small passenger vessels provide a vital and safe service. At the same time, passenger vessel operations are a high stakes game, and when things go wrong, they can go wrong big time - costing lives, damaging equipment, threatening the environment and garnering national media attention that may lead to regulatory solutions. Standards of Care developed for specific passenger vessel operations are a valuable tool to prevent the big time problems. Standards of Care that are thoughtfully developed, presented to employees, and regularly enforced and audited, ensure a daily practice of excellent safe marine operations. A company specific standard of care will help ensure that every crew operates each vessel in a consistently safe manner. Without the standards, each crew may deviate in an every widening path from the right way Standards of Care can be regulatory, regional, or specific to a single company or vessel. Company specific standards may be the most important to employees. They clearly outline training requirements, bridge resource management procedures, communications, hazardous conditions, emergency response procedures, and numerous other areas to promote consistently safe efficient operations. This paper discusses the value and potential content for development of Standards of Care for small passenger vessel operators. 2

3 WHAT IS A STANDARD OF CARE? All professionals have a duty to provide their services in a manner consistent with the standard of care of their profession. But what is a standard of care, and does one size fit all. A Google search for this paper seeking a standard of care definition resulted in 31 million possible links. The most basic explanation for a standard of care is the degree of care a reasonable person would take to prevent an injury to another. A lawyer may say it this way; The degree of care or prudence that practitioners of the same specialty would utilize under similar conditions. But perhaps the best workable definition of a standard of care I can recall came from Clarence, my supervisor for a central Maine roofing company back in the 1970s. Clarence did not worry about standards of care I doubt the term existed in the 1970s but he did know the way it ought to be done. There was no doubt that Clarence knew the way it ought to be done. He personally showed me his standard of care for the proper use of a shovel and broom, how to power a wheelbarrow, how to hold a hammer and position a nail, set a shingle and a variety of other functions that most supervisors would take for granted and assumed you knew. But Clarence took the time to let us know what he expected, to explain the right way, to train his crew and enforce his standards. From frequent personal experience, I can testify that Clarence had no problem with the enforcement. I still cringe remembering his angry yell, the tremendous volume and passion, his colorful adjectives accented with spit flying from his lips. But it worked. His crews got the work done, on time, under budget, and with no injuries. Customers were satisfied and referred new business our way. Angry Clarence had high standards of care. So there you have it. A standard of care is the way it ought to be done. It is your daily practice of excellent safe operations. Thanks Clarence. WHO ESTABLISHES STANDARDS OF CARE? Standards of care may be established by statute, by common practice (the way it s always been done), by specialty boards or organizations, or by individual companies. Standards of care established by statute and regulations are broad in scope and in most cases should be considered the minimum level. This standard is what the federal and state regulators perceive as the level of care and safety the public has a right to expect from that particular service or profession. Standards for mariners licenses, vessel certificates of inspection, life saving equipment, rules of the road, and other requirements are detailed in regulations, and enforced by governmental agencies, most notably the US Coast Guard. Fall below this standard of care level, and you may lose your mariner s license or your vessel s certificate of inspection, and, if deficiencies are not corrected, perhaps your business. Standards of care established by common practice need your careful attention. The way it s always been done does not mean it s still the best or safest method. Changes in the 3

4 natural environment, vessel traffic patterns, vessel design, navigation equipment, regulations, and customer expectations may individually, or in combination, make common practice standards of care dangerous. Investigate and make sure that common practice standards remain valid. It may only be by luck that something has not gone wrong. Don t be the first to find out. REGIONAL or AREA SPECIFIC STANDARDS OF CARE Standards of care that go beyond the existing regulations or are addressed to specific situations or waterways may be established by either professional organizations or by agreement of individual users of the resource. These standards are usually more specific than regulatory standards and are implemented to improve operational safety for all users. For example, users of a congested waterway, port, or difficult navigation area may jointly develop standards of care and user guidelines when navigating in these waters. The promulgation, distribution and adherence to a known and established Standard of Care helps establish good marine practice for vessels operating in the area and reduce the potential for accidents. The following topics should be addressed when developing regional standards of care. Topics can be added or deleted depending on needs. Area Familiarity: New operators should make a pre-transit of the areas they intend to operate in with an experienced mariner to develop familiarity with the waters, navigation aids and hazards, and vessel traffic patterns, rules and protocols. Bridge Resource Management: The vessel s crew should be trained to work as a team, and apply Bridge Resource Management practices. Restricting Passengers from Bridge: When a vessel is operating in low visibility, confined or other hazardous waters, or during times of other critical operations, passengers should be kept from the pilothouse to prevent them from interfering with the safe navigation of the vessel. Communications: Operators should be familiar with the limitations of their communications equipment and coverage areas and adopt appropriate measures to ensure their safety is monitored. Safe Distance from Known Navigation Hazards: Vessels should maintain a minimum safe distance from known hazards (rocks, shoals, etc) based on vessel handling characteristics and the navigation situation / capabilities. Reduce Speed in Hazardous Situations: Operators should navigate their vessels at reduced speed while operating in periods of reduced visibility, heavy weather, and ice conditions to avoid damage to the hull or propulsion. Charts: Operators should develop customized charts that provide annotations of track lines, danger bearings and distances from hazards, and other information to help ensure safe navigation. 4

5 Emergency Preparedness: Operators should develop and keep readily accessible, emergency check lists that outline actions the crew should take in the event of sinking, grounding, fire, medical evacuation, taking on water, etc. Equipment: Operators should be familiar with the capabilities and limitations of their navigation and safety equipment. Situational Awareness: The Coast Guard Auxiliary defines Situational Awareness as the ability to identify, process, and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening to the team with regards to the mission, i.e. knowing what is going on around you. This may include potential or existing hazards such as deteriorating weather, a sea sick passenger on deck with no PFD and nobody monitoring his or her condition, passengers standing up on railings in an unsafe manner or position to get a better view of wildlife, monitoring radio communications and radar traffic, awareness of conflicting traffic, the presence of smaller vessels in the area (kayaks) that may be impacted by the vessel s wake, the positions of the deck crew during heavy weather or when embarking passengers, etc. Safety Awareness: Operators should review Lessons Learned from other marine casualties distributed by the Coast Guard and continually train their crews to ensure navigation, seamanship and rescue skills are honed. An example for this level of standard of care is the Southeast Alaska Waterway Guide developed by USCG Sector Juneau and the maritime community. Copies of the document are available on the Sector Juneau homeport website and the Marine Exchange of Alaska website at Conduct a site search for the Southeast Alaska Voluntary Waterway Guide or Tongass Narrows Waterway Guide. COMPANY STANDARDS OF CARE Question: Do I need company specific standards of care? Answer: Absolutely. Passenger vessel companies may have several boats, several crews, and several routes or tours available. A company specific standard of care will help ensure that each crew operates each vessel on whatever route in a consistently safe manner. Without the standards, each crew may deviate in an ever widening path from the way it ought to be done. Standards of care established specifically for your company go beyond the minimums required by statute, support any existing regional standards, and, most importantly, add value to existing operations. These standards are perhaps the most important and the most difficult to develop, implement and enforce. If they do not exist, then you default to regional, common practice or statute standards which in all likelihood were not created with your company in mind. The fact that it will be difficult should not prevent you from addressing the issue. If your standards do not exist or are ambiguous or unclear on 5

6 what is the proper level of care, how can you expect employees to know your expectations? Are you willing to let employees set the standard of care? Do we want pressure from customers demanding to get closer to the seal on the rock to set your standards? I hope you silently answered NO to these questions. A lawyer will explain that standards of care developed by an individual company are the good safety and marine practices not specifically required by regulation that the prudent operator follows to help ensure safe operations. From a deck plate level, company standards of care communicate to your employees the way it ought to be done to make your operations safer, more effective, safer, and provide a better value to your customers. Notice the emphasis on safety. If it s done right, it will be done safe. Many, perhaps most, companies already have standards of care, but they may refer to them as standard operating procedures, standing orders, or by some other terminology. But remember, to be effective, standards of care by any name must be known and understood by all employees. To promote this knowledge, the standards should be in writing and training should be conducted, and tested periodically, to ensure their meaning is clear. If you have existing standards, do you have a process for communicating your standards and validating they are in fact followed? A succinct summary of your Standards of Care presented on a card is a good way of making sure these standards are known and considered and are not just some verbiage buried in the bowels of a thick operations manual. Standards of Care should be the daily practice of excellent safe marine operations, and not a theoretical desired state. To ensure they are adhered to, an audit program should be in place to validate they are known and followed. If you currently do not have standards and want to develop some, let s take a look at what you may want to include in your standards of care. Using the list from the previous section, let s examine how they can be made more specific, and then discuss what optional topics may also be considered for inclusion in your standards. Area Familiarity: Define your area familiarity qualification process: how many pretransits of the areas with an experienced mariner are required. As a minimum, ensure your requirements meet any legal requirements for vessel and class of service. Define how operators will demonstrate their knowledge of the waters, navigation aids, hazards, and vessel traffic patterns, rules and protocols. Define your refresher trainer requirements. Bridge Resource Management: Define the company process for bridge management. Who does what? Clarify expectations, training requirements, procedures, polices. Are exceptions permitted and under what situations? Make sure all crew members know how they mesh and their importance to this standard. How will electronic charts be utilized? What position fixes are required? Importantly, identify specific procedures for difficult navigation areas. Restricting Passengers from Bridge: Define conditions, locations and other situations where passengers will not be permitted on the bridge. Make sure passengers are aware of the standards beforehand to avoid problems. 6

7 Communications: This can be viewed from both a hardware and a procedural perspective. Does the company have the equipment available to communicate with the home office and emergency responders everywhere along its route? If not, what is the acceptable level for no communication capability? If 100% communication capability is the desired standard, then additional equipment may be required. From a procedural view, define where, when, what and how vessels are to report. Detail your standards of care for keeping passengers informed of the situation during and emergency. Safe Distance from Known Navigation Hazards: Specify company policy for safe distances to maintain from navigation hazards. You can keep this a general standard, or make it hazard specific. As required, prohibit transit of certain areas at all times, or on specific tides, current, or other weather conditions. Reduce Speed in Hazardous Situations: This may seem like common sense, but don t bet the farm that it will automatically happen. Define company specific standards of care during voyages with heavy seas, restricted visibility, ice conditions or other hazardous conditions. Charts: Electronic charts verses paper charts. For paper charts, what is the standard for updating or replacing, who is responsible for development of customized charts, how will information be shared between crews? Remember, customized, accurate and updated charts, complete with annotations of track lines, danger bearings and distances from hazards and other information, can help ensure safe navigation. For electronic charts, what program is utilized, demonstration of skill, level of training, and navigation limitations / concerns with electronic chart use? How will your electronic charts be corrected and updated? What is the company policy for carriage of paper charts as a backup to electronic charts? Emergency Preparedness: Develop, train, and keep readily accessible, emergency check lists specific to your company that outline actions the crew should take in the event of sinking, grounding, fire, medical evacuation, taking on water, etc. Conduct training to the checklists, and exercise the checklists using various scenarios. Provide standards of care for having passengers don personal flotation devices (PFDs). Equipment: The capabilities and limitations of your vessel s navigation and safety equipment including, but not limited to, the vessel s charting programs, GPS, fathometer, radios and autopilot. With respect to communications, operators should know where they have good communications and where communications are poor or non-existent. Crews shall be familiar with the vessel s lifesaving equipment and operation. Situational Awareness: Define company standards and procedures for knowing what is happening at all times - both on and also around the vessel. This may 7

8 include procedures for deteriorating weather, policy of donning PFDs, procedures for monitoring sea sick passengers, identifying and enforcing areas on board where passengers may view wildlife from, monitoring radio communications and radar traffic, awareness of conflicting traffic, the presence of smaller vessels in the area (kayaks) that may be impacted by the vessel s wake, the positions of the deck crew during heavy weather or when embarking passengers, etc. In additional, I would recommend that the following topics be included in a company s standard of care document: Training: Define the training program for the company. Frequency, general topics, and requirements or expectations for professional development. Set company minimum training for various levels of employees. For deck hands, Coast Guard Navigation and Inspection Circular (NVIC) 1-91, Recommended Qualifications for Small Passenger Vessel Deckhand provides a good reference. Pre-Voyage Planning: Like an airline pilot inspecting his aircraft before each flight, define what actions crews should take before every voyage. Include in this plan actions to ensure the safety of passengers from the time they enter the property, get out of their car or bus, and are seated on board the vessel. GO/ NO GO: Provide guidance on parameters for go/no-go voyage determinations. Exercising: State company policy for type and frequency of exercises to be conducted. At the same time, for each contingency exercise, develop an evaluation checklist of critical points to look for during the drill. Identifying the steps or actions that were missed in the drill allows you to target your training and make improvements. Office and administration staff standards of care to support fleet and crew in doing all the above. Take a moment to think about your last accident. If your honest in your assessment, I bet the root cause of your incident was failure to follow one or more of the above standards of care. Loss of situational awareness and poor bridge resource management are often at the head of the list of things gone wrong. CHANGES Like anything else, standards of care can not be developed and left alone. Equipment is replaced, vessels go faster, regulations change, traffic patterns change, passengers expectations and demands change. As your operating environment changes, so too must your Standards of Care. To continue to be effective, your standards must be reviewed regularly, updated as required, enforced and infused into the day-to-day operations of the company. THE FINAL WORD 8

9 Passenger vessels provide a vital and safe service. But at the same time, passenger vessel operations are a high stake game, and when things go wrong, they can go wrong big time - costing lives and garnering national media attention that often times leads to additional regulations. The risk is real. There have been examples of things going wrong in all regions of the country in the past few years. Standards of Care are your daily practice of excellent, safe marine operations to keep the big time problems away. They are all about safe, efficient operations. So make the old roofer Clarence proud, and let your standards of care tell your employees the way it ought to be done, and don t be shy about making sure everyone on your crew follows them. 9

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