SAFETY
In Focus:
The American Waterway Operators
WORKBOAT SAFETY By Eric Haun
Brian Bailey, Director of Safety and Environmental Stewardship for the American Waterways Operators (AWO), was recently named a 2020 Rising Star of Safety by the National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit public service organization promoting health and safety in the U.S. Marine News spoke with Bailey about workboat safety and the AWO’s mission to protect industry workers, assets and the environment. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your role at AWO. I’ve been with The American Waterways Operators as its Director of Safety & Environmental Stewardship since 2016, and lead continuous improvement efforts to promote safety, security and environmental stewardship the tugboat, towboat and barge industry. Specifically, I administer members’ compliance with AWO’s requirement that carrier members maintain third-party audited compliance with a safety management system (SMS), specifically the U.S. Coast Guard-accepted Responsible Carrier Program; the Safety Statistics Reporting Program, a safety data point collection repository; and, the activities of the association’s safety committees and subsidiary groups including the Tankering & Barge Operations Subcommittee. I have more than 10 years specializing in the successful leadership and management of organizations and programs. I’m originally from the Baltimore metropolitan area and am a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Why is it important for industry stakeholders to come together on safety issues? And best case scenario, what can be achieved through discussions such as those arranged by AWO and other groups? I believe in safety evangelism. And, the importance of convening the broader towing industry community to learn about and engage on safety issues is more critical than ever. Each and every employee in the towing industry knows safety is important. They all want to work in a safe and 60 MN
healthy atmosphere. Each and every AWO member company believes it is their responsibility to look after employees – whether they’re shoreside or afloat. Real change can happen when we sit down together and brainstorm, attempting to develop real, tangible safety solutions to make sure that everyone returns home from work the same way they left. To give an example, the Tankering & Barge Operations Subcommittee, a subsidiary of the Interregion and Coastal Safety Committees, has identified the need for safe and reliable means of access/egress at the vessel-to-facility interface. The group noted the lack of regulations addressing access/egress between ship and shore leads to a haphazard system that puts individuals at risk of injury or even death. They brought together a large group of stakeholders, did some data collecting, reviewed the most commonly used systems for access/egress, delved into examples of safety risks that tankermen and others encounter, designed a work process to mitigate these risks, and lastly provided recommendations to close access/egress safety gaps over time. All this was published in a memo entitled “Mitigating Access/Egress Risks at the Vessel-to-Facility Interface.” Other than COVID-19 issues that have dominated safety talk this year, what do you see as the top safety issues frequently discussed among AWO members? Fall overboard prevention continues to be a top issue and safety priority. And, as an industry, we must do all we can to fully understand and promote the contributors to falls overNovember 2020
