The safety of our people working in our plants, on our vessels and in our offices is of the utmost importance. It is what matters most. Ensuring every single employee gets home safely at the end of each day is what drives us to always do better.
For the last two years, Ocean Choice has been working diligently to implement a Safety Management System (SMS) for its Fleet Operations. As a result of this work, all our offshore fishing vessels are now ISM Safety Management Certificate Ocean Choice from DNV, an international accredited registrar and vessel classification society.
What is a Safety Management System? The main purpose of a safety management system is to provide a systematic approach for managing safety risks in operations. SMS also aims to improve safety by building on existing processes, demonstrating corporate due diligence, and reinforcing overall safety culture.
“It has been a team effort across our entire fleet operations group to get Ocean Choice’s Safety Management System to where it is today,” says Hussam Labib, Health, Safety & Environment Manager/DPA. “Getting the SMS to this stage, brings our vessels one step closer to the international standard for safety management across the entire marine sector, which includes oil and gas, marine transportation and the fishery,” adds Hussam.
While the Safety Management System is new for Ocean Choice, the safety polices, operating procedures and standards that are the basis of the system have existed in our fleet operations as well as across the company’s processing facilities for many years.
“We recognize the challenging environment that we work in; and the need to always be thinking safety first,” says Mike Hamer, Captain, M.V. Calvert. “When we are at sea, every single crew member on the vessel has a role to play when it comes to safety – this is something that we all take seriously – and to see the Company leading the charge when it comes to safety lets us know that our safety is a priority.”
According to DNV, Ocean Choice is the first company in the fishing sector to have an ISM compliant Safety Management System. “We should all be proud of the work we do each day to operate safely,” says Blaine Sullivan, President, Ocean Choice. “To be the first fishing company moving in this direction speaks to the importance of safety on our vessels. This is not only an important achievement for Ocean Choice, which would not be possible without the support of our crews, but for the entire fishing sector.”
We know when it comes to safety, we must learn from the past. We know there is always room for improvement. We know that everyone has a role to play. We also know that safety never stops and there is much more work to do.
