1. / PAGE 4/ PAGE 4
icture yourself on a street you
have to cross. There’s no traffic
whatsoever, no apparent danger,
so why not save time and jaywalk?
The question – dealing with the so-
called human factor and every day deci-
sions – goes to the crux of what Maersk’s
safety experts are contemplating these
days. At Maersk Line, for example, the
number of workplace injuries has de-
clined for years due to better equipment
and safety policies. Now, the curve has
bottomed out.
The right rules and tools are largely in
place, so the hunt is on for the elusive
human error factor. With 12 years of
Maersk experience, Sachin Matwankar
heads a new health and safety monitoring
group in Maersk Line Fleet Management.
Matwankar sees the latest statistical de-
velopment as a sign of hard work to come.
“There’s been a massive increase in
the fleet size in recent years, and it is
a big challenge to spread and imbed a
safety culture,” he says, and refers to the
jaywalking example. “You may get away
with jaywalking 99 times in a row, and
this will gradually make you stop paying
attention. Then, the 100th time you get
hit by a truck.”
A cultural issue
The human element is linked to culture,
training and experience. In 2009, for
example, Maersk Line experienced a
disproportionate amount of accidents
among Filipino crew members on Danish-
Safety,
the next level
P
flagged vessels. The statistics plainly
documented that Filipino crew members
would experience 13.1 accidents per year,
compared with 2.5 for Danes, out of a re-
presentative sample of 1,000 employees.
Sachin Matwankar says safety is not
a question of whether you are Danish,
British, Indian or Filipino. It’s a question
of experience, training, morale and at-
titude towards safety.
“Taking a risk, if you jaywalk for
example, is more accepted in some na-
tions and cultures than others, and it is
well-known from studies that safety con-
sciousness can vary based on nationality
The frequency of lost time injuries fell from 5.08
in 2008 to 4.78 in 2009, but there is still work to
do to reach the vision: zero accidents. A zero tol-
erance culture is being introduced in Maersk Line.
At every Executive Board meeting, safety is the first item on the agenda.
BY Erik Høgh-Sørensen
THEME / a safe place to work
and culture,” says Matwankar, himself a
former captain of a Maersk LPG vessel.
“But in the end, all crew members go
through the same recruitment processes
and the same safety familiarisation pro-
grammes, and our job is to ensure the proce-
dures and rules are adhered to,” he adds.
Priorities are set
So with a new team of eventually eight
people, he has his priorities set out.
“To reach the next level in safety, it is
crucial to move away from the current
‘no-blame’ culture to a ‘just culture’ with
zero tolerance. We are not in the business of

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punishing people for making genuine mistakes, particularly if they
followed safety procedures. But if these mistakes turn out to be rou-
tine violations, then somebody must be held accountable,” he says.
Routine
violations are unacceptable
A violation not to be repeated is the fine handed by a UK court
in October 2010 for violation of UK rest hour rules. Individual
crew members at a Maersk Line vessel did not get the required
rest time. Already before being fined, Maersk Line had kicked
off an analysis of rest hours which will lead to an educational
campaign.
“Routine violations are unacceptable and must have conse-
quences to emphasise the company policy, but not before we
have provided vessels with rules and tools to drive the right
actions and behaviour,” Matwankar says.
In the UK rest hour case, the investiga-
tion is still ongoing.
What he learned as a captain, will
now be put to use. Matwankar intends,
for example, to focus on live shipboard
audits and different ways to measure
the onboard safety culture. Also under
scrutiny are ways to improve leading
key performance indicators on safety, on
board the vessels as well as onshore.
“One classic example is that not all
fancy campaigns made ashore are effect-
ively understood and well implemented
on board. The needs and reality of the
target audience must be understood, and
one must also take into account that a
safety culture can vary from vessel to
vessel, depending on the commitment of
the vessel’s management,” he says.
Safety is paramount, both in terms
of our employees’ lives and in terms
of Maersk’s operating procedures.
Safety is our license to operate.
Group CEO Nils S. Andersen
”
It’s provocative, but his point is taken. Right now, Health
and Safety is an established work area within the
Maersk business units—included under the umbrella of
Sustainability. What is being strengthened is the framework for
a systematic Group approach to safety.
To that end, Group Sustainability, with new safety manager,
Christian Krøll Thomsen, has been working together with
several other Group functions over the last several months to
formalise such a system for the Group.
“In merely six months, we’ve seen the creation of a Sustainabil-
ity Council, where safety plays a major role on the agenda. We
have also started doing annual reviews with the business unit
CEOs on their sustainability strategies. And on the accountabil-
ity side, sustainability will be an additional performance metric
for the business units that we will track throughout the year
and discuss in periodic performance reviews with each of
them,” he says.
With a combination of strategies on what the Group wants to
achieve, defined governance structure and documented results,
safety is now approached more systematically from Group level.
Additionally, sharing best practices will be easier.
But Thomsen underlines that safety is not only rooted in the
Sustainability function.
“It is important to be aware that safety in the Group is more
than ‘safety in operations’. It is something that is becoming
more and more ingrained in the way we do business, such as
with our responsible procurement programme, the setting of
performance targets and through continuous engagement with
external stakeholders,” says Thomsen.
“In the end, ensuring safe operations is our license to operate,
and as a Group, we must always keep that in mind. And of
course, keep raising the standards,” he says.
Beginning this year, the Executive Board has decided to
make safety the first item on the agenda for all of its
meetings. In addition, the Board will designate one day
during the year as ‘Sustainability Day’. The first Sustain-
ability Day will focus on safety.
A
The Group approach to
safety
BY John Churchill
Photo:RenéStrandbygaard
THE EXECUTIVE BOARD AND SAFETY