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Making the Marine Industry SAFE
When it comes to marine based businesses there is no one-size-fits-all safety approach. The challenges faced by operators are much more complex than land based businesses.
The most successful marine operators understand that success is dependent on developing custom safety programs and then continually monitoring, training and adapting.
After all, it’s not just dollars at stake but the lives of dedicated crew and employees.
The LIU SAFE Program: Flexible, Pragmatic and Results Driven
Given these high stakes, LIU Marine is launching a new initiative to help clients proactively identify and address potential safety risks. The LIU SAFE Program is offered to clients as a value added service.
Richard Falcinelli, vice president, LIU Marine Risk Engineering
“The LIU SAFE program goes beyond traditional loss control. Using specialized risk assessment tools, our risk engineers function as consultants who gather and analyze information to identify potential opportunities for improvement. We then make recommendations customized for the client’s business but that also leverage our knowledge of industry best practices,” said Richard Falcinelli, vice president, LIU Marine Risk Engineering.
It’s the combination of deep expertise, extensive industry knowledge and a global perspective that enables LIU Marine to uniquely address their client’s safety challenges. Long experience has shown the LIU Risk Engineering team that a rigid process will not be successful. The wide variety of operations and safety challenges faced by marine companies simply cannot be addressed with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Therefore, the LIU SAFE program is defined by five core principles that form the basis of each project.
“Our underwriters, risk engineers and claims professionals leverage their years spent as master mariners, surveyors and attorneys to utilize the best project approach to address each client’s unique challenges,” said Falcinelli.
The LIU SAFE Program in Action
When your primary business is transporting dry and liquid bulk cargo throughout the nation’s complex inland river system, safety is always a top concern.
The risks to crew, vessels and cargo are myriad and constantly changing due to weather, water conditions and many other factors.
SCF Marine, a St. Louis-based inland river tug and barge transportation company and part of the Inland River Services business unit of SEACOR Holdings Inc., understands what it takes to operate successfully in these conditions. The company strives for a zero incident operating environment and invests significant time and money in pursuit of that goal.
But when it comes to marine safety, all experienced mariners know that no one person or company has all the answers. So in an effort to continually find ways to improve, SCF management approached McGriff, Seibels & Williams, its marine broker, to see if LIU Marine would be willing to provide their input through an operational review and risk assessment.
The goal of the engagement was clear: SCF wanted to confirm that it was getting the best return possible on its significant investment in safety management.
Using the LIU SAFE framework, LIU’s Risk Engineers began by sending SCF a detailed document request. The requested information covered many aspects of the SCF operation, including recruiting and hiring practices, navigation standards, watch standing procedures, vessel maintenance standards and more.
Following several weeks of document review the LIU team drafted its preliminary report. Next, LIU organized a collaborative meeting at SCF’s headquarters with all of the latter’s senior staff, along with McGriff brokers and LIU underwriters. Each SCF manager gave an overview of their area of responsibility and LIU’s preliminary findings were reviewed in depth. The day ended with a site visit and vessel tour.
“We sent our follow-up report after the meeting and McGriff let us know that it was well received by SCF,” Falcinelli said. “SCF is so focused on safety; we are confident that they will use the information gained from this exercise to further benefit their employees and stakeholders.”
“It was probably one of the most comprehensive efforts that I’ve ever seen undertaken by a carrier’s loss control team,” said Baxter Southern, executive vice president at McGriff, which also is based in St. Louis. “Through the collaborative efforts of all three parties, it was determined that SCF had the right approach and implementation. The process generated some excellent new concepts for implementation as the company grows.”
In addition to the benefits of these new concepts, LIU gained a much deeper understanding of SCF’s operations and is better positioned to provide ongoing loss control support.
“Effective safety management is about being focused and continuously improving, which requires complete commitment from top management,” Falcinelli added. “SCF obviously is on a quest for safety excellence with zero incidents as the goal, and has passed that philosophy down to its entire workforce.”
“SCF’s commitment to the process along with LIU’s expertise was certainly impressive and a key reason for the successful outcome,” Southern concluded.
There are many other ways that the SAFE program can help clients address safety risks. To learn more about how your company could benefit, contact your broker or LIU Marine.
This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Liberty International Underwriters. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.
