Safety as a Reflex: A New Perspective for Maritime Industry Workers

The maritime industry offers unique opportunities and challenges for seafarers but also exposes them to risks. Therefore, creating a safety culture that becomes an integral part of professional behavior and operates at the level of reflex plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and well-being of workers in the maritime environment.

Safety as a Reflex: Finding Common Ground

Unconditioned reflexes are automatic reactions of the body to certain stimuli, developed through evolution to ensure survival. For instance, blinking when something enters the eye or pulling away from a hot object are reflexive actions. These reflexes operate instantly and without conscious thought, providing immediate protection.

Similarly, workplace safety on commercial ships can be viewed in the same light. Imagine that maritime industry workers develop their safety skills to the level of reflexes. This means that they not only know and understand the rules but also perform them automatically, without thinking, as reflexive actions. Thus, safety measures become an inherent part of their daily activities.

Commercial Vessels: High Responsibility and the Need for Automation

Working on commercial vessels requires high concentration and responsibility. From the Captain to the junior rating, everyone must be prepared for any emergencies. Automating responses to potential threats can significantly enhance the safety level on board.

Examples of Situations and Reflexive Actions

1. Fire on Board: Automatic execution of fire-fighting and evacuation actions.
2. Man Overboard: Instant reaction to the "man overboard" signal and initiation of the rescue operation.
3. Equipment Malfunction: Immediate execution of protocols for repair and ensuring crew safety.

Building Safety Culture from the Start

Creating a safety culture should start from the moment new employees are hired. The training and integration process should begin with considering safety as an integral part of daily activities. Workers should understand that for the successful performance of their duties, safety must become a habit, not just an obligation.

Trust and Clear Instructions

To establish a safety culture that becomes a reflex, it is crucial to maintain an atmosphere of trust between management and employees. Developing clear safety standards, ensuring their compliance, and subsequent monitoring by management contribute to forming long-term safety habits.

Training and Repetition

A safety culture should be regularly updated and repeated. Training in safe practices and safety courses should be conducted periodically to keep information relevant and strengthen safe behavior habits.

Engagement and Rewards

Encouraging employees to follow safety rules and actively participate in creating a safe work environment helps establish safety as a core value. Employee involvement in the process of building a safety culture makes it more meaningful and helps embed it at the reflex level.

Systematic Learning

Systematic learning and discussing cases of safety violations and their consequences help refresh knowledge and maintain a high level of safety awareness.

Effective Communication

Effective communication is crucial in creating a safety culture that becomes a reflex. Regular and open discussions on safety issues, sharing information about potential hazards, and providing easy access to safety instructions and procedures contribute to the formation of safe behavior habits.

Leadership Modeling

Leaders in the organization should act as models of safe behavior. Their example motivates employees to follow safety principles, making their behavior reflexive. Supporting safety at all levels of the organization and maintaining an open dialogue about safety play a key role in shaping a safety culture.

Continuous Improvement

The principle of continuous improvement in the safety culture helps avoid stagnation and outdated safety methods. Regular updating of safety policies, incident analysis, and the implementation of new practices help maintain a high level of safety and effectiveness of measures.

System of Penalties and Rewards

Creating a clear system of penalties for safety violations and corresponding rewards for compliance with rules helps strengthen the safety culture. Fair and consistent application of these measures reflects the seriousness of the management's approach to ensuring safety and forms an understanding of the importance of following rules.

Regular Audits and Assessments

Conducting regular inspections, audits, and evaluations of the safety culture helps identify weaknesses, bottlenecks, and general trends. These data can be used to correct mistakes, improve training, and support necessary changes in the safety culture.

Conclusion

Workplace safety as a reflex is not just an abstract idea but a practical approach that can significantly enhance safety levels on commercial ships. Developing automatic safety skills, similar to unconditioned reflexes, requires time and effort but yields invaluable benefits. Maritime industry workers trained to act instantly and accurately in emergency situations become guarantors of safety not only for their crew but for the entire vessel.

Turning workplace safety into a reflex is the path to creating truly safe working conditions on board, where every crew member knows and feels their responsibility for the overall well-being.