October 20, 2021
A First-Hand Reflection on the Safety Culture On Board the Georgiy Ushakov from the Vessel’s First-Ever Cadets.
In 2020, three Deck Cadets, Ewan Morrice, Mathew Cassidy and Donald Ross Macpherson, were the first cadets to sail on board the Georgiy Ushakov. The journey also marked the trio’s first time at sea. From day one, the cadets saw first-hand that onboard a Teekay vessel, adhering to safety commitments and demonstrating operational leadership was ‘business as usual.’
Read on a first-hand recollection from Ewan, Mathew, and Donald about the safety culture they experienced during their cadetships.
For us three cadets, the Georgiy Ushakov is the first ship we have ever sailed on. Not only that, but we have the privilege of being the first cadets on-board. When we arrived at the ship in Rotterdam we were shown to our cabins and given the safety basics by the Chief Mate.
Having spent a couple of hours acclimatising to our new surroundings, we had a quick visit to the PPE locker. The extent of PPE covered at college is basic: boiler suits, hard hats, and gloves – so seeing polar gear included on the list was an exciting novelty. In the arctic conditions Teekay’s ice-breaking LNG ships operate in, warm clothing is absolutely vital. From Baffin boots to balaclavas, ski goggles to safety harnesses – you name it, it’s somewhere in that PPE locker.
Our first impression of Teekay’s approach to preparedness when it comes to PPE is routinely echoed in our experiences on-board. All the on-signers were assembled in the Conference Room – boiler suits donned, helmets strapped – and taken on a safety familiarisation of the vessel. It was in this room I first noticed the big LTI clock celebrating 396 days since Lost Time Injury. It became increasingly clear why there had been none of these injuries as we made our way through the ship during our familiarisation with the Safety Officers. Notices are put up with any new safety information that could help crew members, and posters are present on each deck reminding us to Take 5 before carrying out a job or to remind us of our Stop Work Responsibility – the policy that any crew-member, regardless of rank, can stop a job if they feel that it is not being carried out safely. Once we finished our familiarisation, with that big red ’396 days LTI free’ just on the other side of the room, we signed our Commitments Cards with a new understanding of how to keep ourselves, and those around us, safe.
During our first week onboard, we watched the LTI clock tick over from 396 days through to 399 and then over to 400. For most companies that’d be quite the feat and something to make a big fanfare about. For us here on the Georgiy Ushakov, just a short while after her first birthday, it already feels like business as usual: following the Safety Commitments we have made and ensuring an Operational Leadership-based approach to keep Teekay SPIRIT at the forefront of how we work is just how things are done around here.
