ChevronTexaco Shipping Company LLC Safety Bulletin

Stress Management
Celebrating Operational Excellence
Dedicated to the welfare of the mariners who serve on the ships...
August 2003
YEARS OF INCIDENT FREE
NAME SERVICE YEARS
O. Giovine 35 35
S. Barreto 30 30
M. Costa 30 30
H. Dey 30 30
S. Malunjkar 30 30
S. Menezes 30 30
A. Raham 30 30
S. Teli 30 30
B. Alphonso 25 25
H. P. Nielsen 25 25
A. Pires 25 25
O. Robertsson 25 25
C. Gruelund 20 19
F. Gubatina 10 9
W. Andrew 15 15
A. Cervantes 15 15
J. Grannon 15 15
R. Lavares 15 14
S. Rahaman 15 15
W. Reyes 15 14
A. Tibayan 15 15
A. Valmores 15 15
C. Vaz 15 15
J. Yap 15 15
S. Bandewar 10 10
R. Manalo 10 10
R. Martir 10 10
R. Muyano 10 10
F. Vaz 10 9
A. Cocozza 5 5
D. Coyoca 5 5
N. Diongzon 5 5
J. J. Fernandes 5 5
R. Gama 5 5
N. Karkarey 5 5
M. Magsalin 5 5
S. Mattioli 5 5
J. Ortalla 5 5
G. Paria 5 5
ChevronTexaco Shipping Company LLC
August 2003
Volume 65, No. 8
Safety and Environment Team
Editor Richard Holder
Please direct your questions, comments
or suggestions to:
ChevronTexaco Shipping Company LLC
P.O. Box 6027
San Ramon, CA 94583-0727
phone 925.973.4181
fax (within U.S.) 877.673.9272
(outside U.S.) 631.514.3057
email L9Safety@chevrontexaco.com
Service
Safe.
Always!
WITHOUT INJURY
ARTICLES:
What do I Think about Safety
Maryanne Loko
Workplace Stress Management
Poul Hansen, 1st Engineer
A Safe Journey - Samrat Thukral
Phoenix Voyage, 1500 Days
Captain Jaime S.M. Meneses
Heat Stress - Richard Holder
2 August 2003 SAFETY BULLETIN
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What Do I Think About Safety?by Maryanne Loko, Deck Cadet
Hello, my name is Maryanne Loko and
Im from the Maritime College in Papua
New Guinea. This is my first time at sea
as a Deck cadet and this is what I have
to say about my experience so far.
First, I must admit that before joining
the PHOENIX VOYAGER I didnt think
Safety would be a priority. In fact it was
all quite new to me. All my life (on
land) I have watched companies and
individuals place other things as a num-
ber one priority. The focus was on get-
ting the job done to please the cus-
tomer, or providing good quality no mat-
ter what. It didnt matter how safe the
employees worked. I had to adapt to
this culture of working safely, every day
from sunrise to sunset. In the beginning
it was quite difficult attempting to fit
into the lifestyle. Thinking about safety
for the simplest of tasks, such as walk-
ing down stairs or the pathway, was not
my usual mindset.
After being onboard for over 6 months,
safety is now part of my every day life. I
have learned from the officers and crew
that BBS and Key Safety Behaviors not
only prevent accidents, but completely
wipe out the word "Injury." The basis
of this principle is, "dont wait for an
accident to learn form unsafe behaviors
- prevent such an accident from ever
happening with BBS." From having
gone through the training and actually
seeing it put into action is great.
Receiving and giving feedback is always
a plus in helping to improve safety by
identifying ways to remove barriers that
could cause a mishap.
Also, from what I have observed
through morning safety meetings with
the C/Mate and crew, it can be said that
getting the crew involved in describing
what Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) they should wear helps re-enforce
a reminder every morning. It is every-
ones safety we should be concerned
about, for the benefit of ourselves,
shipmates, and the entire ship as a
whole. Everyone works to keep an eye
on each other. Working as a team is an
important aspect of safety and a prima-
ry objective on the PHOENIX VOYAGER.
The PHOENIX VOYAGER reached 1500
injury free days in the late spring this
year. This is the out come of team work,
Behavior Based Safety (BBS), support
from the VMT, and training. We proba-
bly could not have made it this far
without the full co-corporation and
active participation from all of the
officers and crew.
ChevronTexaco Shipping is a company
that is well known around the globe.
Being able to be a part of this company
is a great pleasure. Seeing the world,
meeting new people, and producing the
best quality of service to customers are
also great experiences. Most important-
ly, the one thing I have learned is "The
best of service and the best of quality
only comes from teams that know they
are doing their jobs safely while every-
one is keeping an eye out for each
other."
The company has taught me that work-
ing in a safe environment is the key to
production. Keep on working safely and
a personal "thank you" to all the people
that have helped me understand what
working safely really is (even when at
times it had to be drilled into me).
Congratulations on reaching the 1500
injury free days milestone PHOENIX
VOYAGER!
Safe. Always!
ChevronTexaco
Shipping is a company
that is well known
around the globe.
Being able to be a part
of this company is a
great pleasure.
August 2003 SAFETY BULLETIN 3
Workplace Stress Management by Poul Hansen, 1st Engineer
Stress is a factor
in safety and SAFETY is
always our main focus.
Stress can turn into an
occupational hazard if
not managed properly,
especially when perfor-
mance pressure is fac-
tored in. Some people
point to the computer/
RAST as a mixed bless-
ing, and others just don't
really achieve job satis-
faction. Many employees
don't know how to leave
their personal problems
at home. To make mat-
ters worse, they worry
about losing their jobs. The result can cause
increased tension, frustrations and cumulative
stress that can form barriers to working safely.
The pressure to perform fast and efficiently
can result in what I call round-the-clock crisis
management. Shoreside people often leave
their offices knowing they can't completely
escape workplace stress. In comparison,
people onboard the vessels never know if
they can expect to get a call during the night
and will never relax until they leave the vessel.
The cycle can almost seem endless.
For many, some combination of stress at work,
burdens at home, troubled relationships and
health problems, become overwhelming to the
point where it affects their ability to function
at work. Some of the physical symptoms
of stress could show up as panic attacks,
stomach aches, loss of concentration and
difficulty sleeping. When one area of your
life is interfering with another, it may be
time to step back and re-think things.
So what causes us to experience
these problems and where would
they come from??
For the people out on the ships, the level of
experience today seems to be getting less
and less. When I say experience I mean
hands on work. People also want quicker
promotions and theres nothing wrong with
that. It provides healthy competition, but it
can increase pressure on the ships crew.
A bigger focus on being competitive and
managing budgets can also cause pressure.
Administrative functions, such as calculating
future expenses, can result in less time for
supervision.
Management of maintenance and spare
parts, risk assessment, etc.
The safety of your fellow shipmates.
As an engineer on EODP assignment I was asked to write an
article for the Safety Bulletin, which I thought would be an easy
task. There are plenty of subjects that we seafarers out in the
real world have grumbled about in the past. When I looked
through the old bulletins I soon realized the topics that first
came to mind had already been published, some several times
over. So to take another direction (instead of writing about
welding, shackles, power tools, housekeeping, wire strops, UV radiation, etc),
Im writing about stress, which most people are continuously exposed to.
4 August 2003 SAFETY BULLETIN
August 2003 SAFETY BULLETIN 5
These are just a few examples of what
could be sources of stress. There are
many more subjects than mentioned
here and any of them could put us
in a position that is not exactly
comfortable.
How should we manage issues
that could cause stress? Do we
need help?
We all need help in one way or another.
During the past 2 weeks in the office
Ive seen people here help solve many
problems occurring on vessels. There
are many years of experience here
on the shoreside, and if that is not
enough, telephone and internet pro-
vides access to even more experience.
Most problems are solved in a very
reasonable time, usually in less time
than it takes to commute to work.
We already have tools in place that
help us reduce or eliminate SAFETY
hazards. Things like BBS, JSA, KSB,
SEMS, OPS, etc. are very helpful, but
we don't have anything that addresses
the way we communicate with each
other. So my advice (which doesn't
even cost anything) is a simple
acknowledgement that can go a long
way to reduce stress and promote a
SAFE working environment. Let people
know that they are working hard and
you appreciate their efforts. To fre-
quently people take things for granted
or forget in a busy day to recognize
their shipmates efforts.
Making people feel good about
themselves accomplishes four things.
It releases tension, creates a sense of
acceptance, conveys a sense of unity,
and restores a healthy perspective.
So if you're having a bad day and
someone does something humorous,
chances are you'll feel less tense, more
accepting of yourself or your situation,
less alone, and better able to see the
whole picture, whereas before you may
have been fixated on just one small
part of it.
We all want to feel accepted, where we
feel we're part of the same team, and
where we all feel SAFE. We all want to
work in an environment that is as ten-
sion-free as possible, but keep in mind
that some degree of stress is healthy.
Stress management is the key. Attempt
to change your own outlook rather
than just focusing on the issue that is
causing stress. And, dont forget to
say a few encouraging words to the
person next to you every once in a
while, whether being in the office or
at sea.
stress
management
6 August 2003 SAFETY BULLETIN
Safety for me is not merely a six letter
word, but a phenomenon that has
altered the way we think, the way we
live, and in fact, the way we do any-
thing and everything. It takes a lot of
patience and dedication to be Safe
Always. Safety is not like a powerful
explosion lasting only a brief moment,
safety is more like oxidation slow,
very certain, and steady. Accomplish-
ing a goal such as 1500 days without
a lost time injury requires continuous
persuasion, years of practice, constant
effort, and a very dedicated team of
crew and officers.
Safety cannot be forced down some-
ones throat or injected into the blood-
stream, but it can be incorporated into
every day life - bit by bit- with videos,
quizzes, presentations and safety
brain storming sessions. On the
PHOENIX VOYAGER, when we talk
about safety, the VMT has successfully
managed to create an aura of safety
around each individual. Safety is
never taken as a burden or a policy,
but rather a life style. It felt good
when I saw an oiler reminding an
officer about his chin strap during a
drill. The officer didnt feel offended,
instead he thanked the oiler and
appreciated his keen observation. It
truly reflects the culture we work in.
BBS, which stands for Behavior Based
Safety, is the back bone of our safe
working environment. The statistics
clearly show that our lost time injury
rate has gone down since we started
the BBS program. During a BBS
observation a person will learn what
to do and what not to do. BBS also
makes the observer more aware of
the minor but critical details about a
particular job.
In closing, I want to thank every
ChevronTexaco employee who has
ever worked on the PHOENIX
VOYAGER. Each individual has an
equal contribution towards this long,
safe and injury free journey of 1500
days. This is not the end, but just a
milestone near the beginning. I look
forward to every ship in our fleet get-
ting to enjoy brilliant golden moments
such as this.
A Safe Journey by Samrat Thukral
I will grab this opportunity to introduce myself. My
name is J/E Samrat and this is my first contract on the
PHOENIX VOYAGER, of which I have already served five
months onboard. In this short period I have cultured
what safety really means and accredited its importance
in making a ship worth working on. Thanks to the BBS
for making it a safe and great place to sail on.
1500 Days by Capt. Jaime SM. Meneses, Master, PHOENIX VOYAGER Ex J. Bennett Johnston
August 2003 SAFETY BULLETIN 7
The day is April 21st 2003, on this day the PHOENIX
VOYAGER ex. J. Bennett Johnston had passed the 1500
days Injury Free Days. Thats about 2 months ago (today
is June 10, 2003), so why only at this time we are telling
everyone about it?
We are not superstitious and we surely didnt forget. We
just believed that DOING the jobs on hand at that time
has more priority than celebrating the event. We have
transited the Malacca / Singapore Strait.
For the 4th time on loaded passage, we have also
completed a back to back lightering operation in PAL
and completed a heavy work load at Long Beach all
this just after the 1500 Days Injury Free date.
Now, its time to celebrate and we are proud to say to
everyone that we have surpassed 1500 days Injury Free.
We have also a picture of the crew onboard on this day
FACING THE CAMERA. Remember our 1000 Days Injury
Free picture with the crew facing backwards from the
camera on the March 2002 Safety Bulletin issue? We
were actually looking on the name and acknowledging
everyone that has been on the JBJ contributing to 1000
Injury Free Days we hoped that there were no other
misinterpretations of it!
With this, we say, one at a time we have now completed
the 1500 days and we are working towards the 5 year
mark and after that, it will be the 2000 days milestone.
Safe and Secure Always.
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Avoiding Heat Stress by Richard Holder
8 August 2003 SAFETY BULLETIN
Sweltering temperatures
in hot climates can cause
heat stress symptoms
to develop that may go
unrecognized by the suf-
ferer until it is too late,
especially when physical
activity is also involved.
Whenever heat is com-
bined with physical
activity, dehydration,
exhaustion and other
conditions can rapidly
digress into one of a
number of potential
heat related illnesses
or injuries. Death is
even possible. To avoid
events like these one
must understand the
processes to be imple-
mented when working
in hot environments.
First, know the indicators and symp-
toms of heat stress. Knowing what to
look for is important because heat
stress usually causes the victim to
become disoriented and unaware of
their condition. People who are
overweight, physically unfit, suffer
from heart conditions, drink too much
alcohol or are not acclimated to
the temperature are at a greater risk.
These are the symptoms of heat
stress:
Muscle Cramps/ Nausea - Loss
of body salt occurs with excessive
sweating. Muscle cramps will
develop after your body losses too
much salt. Anyone that shows this
symptom should be closely moni-
tored for the development of other
symptoms (nausea, dizziness,
headaches, etc.) To prevent cramps
drink plenty of water, frequently.
Heat Exhaustion Heavy sweating
along with cool and moist skin will
occur if heat cramp symptoms are
disregarded. The persons judg-
ment may be also affected. In fact,
a victim may even strongly argue
that they are feeling fine even
though the symptoms are clearly
obvious. To prevent heat exhaus-
tion from progressing into heat
stroke, seek medical attention.
Heat Stroke The cooling mecha-
nisms shut down after the body
uses all of its water and salt. A
person suffering a heat stroke will
have hot, and dry skin along with
a very high pulse rate. Loss of
consciousness may happen as well.
Seek medical attention immediately.
Far too often, people do not recognize
the symptoms before it is too late.
Remember to think about the well
being of others working around you.
If you are working alone in a hot envi-
ronment, develop a buddy system
so someone will check on you periodi-
cally to look for signs of heat stress.
Finally, acclimate yourself. The body
takes time to adjust to hot weather,
for some people it could take up to
two weeks. Limit your exposure time
in hot climates until your body adjusts
to the temperature. Take breaks in
cool areas as necessary and drink
plenty of fluids, frequently. A mini-
mum of two pints of fluid per day is
necessary for the body to function
in moderate climates; four or more
pints of fluid per day are necessary
for people in hot climates. Water
is best, although some sports drinks
are satisfactory. Carbonated drinks
and alcoholic beverages should be
avoided.