Safety & Risk Management
Safety First
ARP continues to think outside the square when it comes to safety and innovation in sea pilotage, and has further strengthened its safety training and expertise in the past year.
The key development has been the introduction of ARP’s new Pilotage Operations Safety Management System (POSMS), which was officially approved by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in October 2014.
POSMS has put ARP at the cutting edge of maritime safety systems in Australia.
More than two years were spent developing the system, with ARP working alongside respected safety authority Captain Ravi Nijjer to research more than a century of accident reports from the reef, as well as marine incidents from around the globe.
POSMS has since been augmented by a training framework which outlines how it is introduced and taught to new and existing pilots. The training framework has been assessed and approved by AMSA.
This makes ARP the first pilotage company in Australia to have a fully integrated on-the-job training framework for its safety management system.
Previous safety management systems tended to focus on the ‘expected’ activity of vessels and predictable patterns of human behaviour and largely ignored the possibility of one-off or unlikely incidents. However, we are determined to ensure our pilots are prepared to face any conceivable situation on the Great Barrier Reef and ready to react swiftly and effectively.
After compiling a detailed list of possible scenarios – and the principal factors which had contributed to previous similar incidents – ARP developed, tested and approved a range of rigorous responses.
The Torres Strait and Great Barrier Reef simulation programmes developed by ARP and Smartship Brisbane are being used to fine-tune POSMS in the challenging conditions pilots face when passing through the Prince of Wales Channel in the Torres Strait.
All of ARP’s pilots have undergone intensive POSMS training. Because the system is “living” and constantly updated as best practice changes around the world, they receive regular ongoing safety tuition and advice.
POSMS has helped ARP ensure hazards, risks and risk controls are properly understood and acted upon across the team – from head office to the bridge of every client’s ship.
The methodology developed for POSMS is now being used to create safety management systems for pilotage at ports around Australia, including Fremantle, Cairns and Port Philip.
ARP’s expertise in training has also been recognised at the port of Gove in the Northern Territory, where the company has been contracted to provide all port pilotage and pilot training requirements.
