For the Start-up meeting the entire repair team of the ship and the Astican Project Manager and his team were invited. After introducing NINA, all participants talked in small mixed groups about key risks for this project and related them to the NINA goals, in order to get a clear view on the actions needed.

Edgar van Oers, Deputy Fleet Director Boskalis Offshore, attended the meeting and is enthusiastic about the atmosphere and the results: “As far as I am concerned a NINA Start-up meeting conducted by a SHE-Q engineer is the standard practice for all major repairs. Our goal is not telling the yard how to act; our goal is interaction with the yard so we can help each other create a safe working environment.”

Juan Banot Navarro, Project Manager at the Astican yard, has been involved in many Start-up meetings on board ships of several offshore companies. “They look like a ‘standard’ meeting. In your case it was very different; there was much more cooperation between ship’s crew, yard staff and managers. It was useful to learn from different points of view how the NINA procedure works. We have relayed some of these points to our Safety Department and are planning to set up our own observation card system.”

Antonio Giuliano, Senior SHE-Q engineer, who conducted the NINA Start-up is happy with the positive feedback. “I see that the NINA session helps to create more awareness. You realize that safety on board our ship during repairs is the result of a joint effort.”