256 Incidents in Three Months: Is Your Safety Management System Working?

The numbers, month by month

• April: 87 incidents, 12 serious
• May: 88 incidents, 13 serious, 1 very serious
• June: 81 incidents, 10 serious

That's close to three incidents reported every day across the country. The numbers were steady from month to month, so this isn't a one-off spike. It's what happens on the water all the time.

Why this matters to you

Behind every one of these reports is a vessel, a crew and often passengers. Most incidents don't come from one big failure. They come from small things that were missed: a check that got skipped, a procedure nobody followed, or a risk nobody spotted.

Your Safety Management System (SMS) is there to catch those small things before they turn into something serious. But it only works if it's used every day. A document that sits in a folder on the shelf doesn't protect anyone.

A quick SMS check for your operation

Ask yourself:

• Does it match what you actually do? If your vessel, crew, routes or type of work have changed, your SMS should change too.
• Does your crew know it? Could each crew member tell you what to do in an emergency without looking it up?
• Are you doing the drills? Are they happening, and are they being recorded?
• Are you reporting and learning? Are near misses and incidents written down, looked at, and used to make things better?
• When was it last reviewed? If you can't remember, it's time.

Every incident is a reminder

These figures are a good prompt to sit down with your SMS this week and check that it works on the water, not just on paper.

If you'd like help reviewing or updating your Safety Management System, contact Mid Coast Marine Services at info@mcmsnsw.com.au or call 0480 222 169