SEEING NINA VALUES HAVE SETTLED
“When I was visiting the White Marlin at the MMHE yard in Malaysia for a NINA training, the project team and crew were involved in a skidded load out. It was a two phase job, both supposedly daylight operations. However, after finishing the first phase the yard wanted them to go on immediately with phase II, although it was already end of daytime. At that moment I saw pressure building up: people were tired, there were technical issues, but the yard insisted to go on. After consulting the office the Project Manager called of a ‘stop the job’. For me this shows the NINA Values have settled: dare to take your time when needed.” Corné Jongeneelen, Lead Project Engineer

“I visited the Blue Marlin at Jurong shipyard when they were celebrating 1.200.000 manhours without LTI. At the same yard however there had been three fatalities in the last couple of months. I am convinced that when you look at the rootcause of incidents you will find that the majority has to do with quality rather than with safety. It comes down to a good preparation and controlling your processes. If, in the end, there are unforeseen circumstances, you have NINA, stimulating people to think for themselves, to take care of each other and to give their opinion. This already starts in the preparation phase. Quality goes hand in hand with safety.” John van der Woning, manager projects

BECOMING CURIOUS
“Everyone is very positive about NINA. But does it really work? To me NINA still looks like a noncommittal program, without a format. However it does bring safety to the surface continuously: in my own work there is more attention for safety in contracts. What NINA did accomplish is that it made me curious about what the crews on board think about safety. As a NINA ambassador I plan to visit the ships more often. I have to ‘feel’ safety in order to be able to sell it.” Giel Barendse, Manager
Sales & Business Development for Transport and Marine Services

USING JOKES TO START DISCUSSION
“When I visit a ship I often hear jokes about NINA. ‘No Internet No Alcohol, hahaha.’ You can ignore this, but I rather use it to start up a discussion. That is my role as a NINA ambassador. It is about closing the gap between office and fleet and between
cultures. A good discussion about safety can contribute to this. NINA is binding.” Ton Schouten, Fleet Manager Offshore

CONVINCING PEOPLE TO BE PERSISTENT
“Changing a culture goes page by page. That can be difficult. I met a colleague saying ‘I have done my part, now it is up to them’. That is the loophole you can fall in. As a NINA ambassador I try to convince him to be persistent in his goal pursuit: you are one of the connecting dots. Don’t break the line.” Konstantinos Neanidis, SHE-Q Fleet Management Offshore

“How can I make the guys that are doing the dangerous work, really think before they act? I see a lot of blank stares during a NINA talk. My answer is story telling. I tell them about the mooring incident on the Vanguard. There was a mooring line across deck and the sailor thinks: ‘This line should not be here’. So he picks it up and at that exact moment the rope tightens and sweeps the guy away. I hope sharing this story will inspire them, prevent complacency with routine jobs and make people think.”
Robb Erickson, Vice President Sales Heavy Marine Transport

IDENTIFICATION
“The NINA Reunion Day gave us a chance to learn from each other: how do you inspire people? I believe telling stories is important, because people can identify with them. Like with my story on stopping a job. A couple of years ago an FSPO was about to leave in bad weather, when I found out the criteria for departure where not met and sea fastenings on the FPSO were not finished. Being responsible for the safety of the crew I stopped the operation. This was not easily accepted at the time. Thanks to NINA nowadays you get more support when you take such a decision.” André Boelaars, Senior Superintendent Operations

YOU SHARE AN EMOTION
“I attended a NINA training on board the Triumph. At first people were reluctant to participate. But when I shared ‘the elephant story’ of Aalok Sharma I could see something happening: people started talking to each other and asking questions. Then one of the engineers shared his story. For me story telling is the best part of NINA: you share an emotion.” Herman van Raaphorst, Business Unit Director

THE ELEPHANT STORY of Aalok Sharma, SHE-manager
“Years ago on board an oil tanker as a Chief Officer I was in charge of six training seaman, some of them first time at sea. A recurring concern was seeing this young boys jump over mooring ropes during operations. Realizing they did not understand the impact of the parting rope which was under 40 – 50 T of tension, I asked them if they had ever seen an elephant. ‘Yes sir’, they said. I continued: ‘Let’s assume an elephant weighs about two tons. Imagine 20 elephants falling on you. What would happen to you?’ This example worked for them: they stopped jumping over the lines and started warning each other by referring to elephants during the operation.”

“A project engineer called me with doubts about an operation involving the SMIT Nicobar. He called from a different location than the ship was. A few days later
he called again, still worried. I said: ‘is this a stop the job?’. ‘Yes’, he said. I did not really agree with the him, as I was convinced we had taken all measures needed.
But even if only one man says it is not safe, I support him. So we stopped the work. In less than twelve hours time we took all mitigating measures and started the operations again. The lesson learned is: how can we stimulate people to speak up earlier?” of Chris Lacroix, Operations Manager BOMS and Fairmount Marine

At the kick-off of the NINA program last year, the Dockwise/Fairmount management agreed to enter the training sessions with two items on the agenda: ‘Closing the gap between office and fleet’ and, when on board for management inspections ‘Tell me something I don’t want to hear’. As a result during each NINA training session all crew members are asked to name their ‘proud moments’ and
‘safety challenges’. SHE-Q has looked into the feedback received and listed all items brought in.

This was presented and discussed at the NINA Reunion Day. The top five (so far):
PROUD MOMENTS
1. Work/safety culture [proud of creating a safe environment resulting in zero accidents]
2. Involvement/commitment [importance of safety for crew, individuals taking action]
3. PPE [having a corporate standard, proud of correct use and availability]
4. Welfare [proud of conditions for living on board]
5. Systems

SAFETY CHALLENGES
1. Work/safety culture [diversity in cultures leads to misunderstanding]
2. Relation with subcontractors
3. Reporting and paperwork
4. Welfare [communication with home]
5. PPE [quality varies]

All safety challenges need attention. Some have already been addressed, for instance the communication problems due to cultural diversity. To enable Russian speaking crew members to fully participate in the NINA training sessions Russian speaking
trainers are hired.

THE STORY OF GUTS
“When I visited the yard where the White Marlin was under construction, I passed a welder working in a very narrow space near the edge of a keyhole. He was not wearing any protection. If he had fallen down he would not have survived. And what did I do? Nothing. It was at another project and I did not have the guts to stop it. Off course it was the responsibility of the yard, but how about my NINA Values? That is a dilemma a lot of us are facing. When do you address unsafe situations? For me it was a learning experience. I should lead by example more. Be visible, show my commitment to safety. Always.” Peter van der Linden, Group Direction member