Whether you’re delivering newspapers around your neighbourhood or sensitive cargo from Rotterdam to Rio, there is always tension between efficiency, sustainability and staying safe.
And with a global fleet of more than 160 tankers, it is essential that Stolt Tankers (ST) balances these factors. To help do this, it has defined and developed a strategy that combines human behaviour and technology to embed a culture where safety first is second nature.
Introduced in 2018, the Slashed Zero programme has one simple yet ambitious aim: a steadfast commitment to slashing safety incidents across operations to zero by getting people to own their safety. Having a large fleet with more than 4,500 seafarers and half of them onboard at any given time, makes running an effective and engaging safety programme a challenging task.
But Stolt Tankers has kept the strategy simple, believing that for a health and safety programme to genuinely talk the talk, it’s best developed by those who walk the walk. So Slashed Zero is a behaviour-based programme built for ST, by ST employees with clear and visible support and involvement from the leadership team.
The biggest hurdle came at the very start, in adjusting people's perception of safety. Ajay Furtado (pictured), ST's Global Manager – Safety, Security, Health, Environment and Quality (SSHEQ), explains: "For Slashed Zero to 'work', we first had to convince people that safety could no longer be a priority and, instead, needed to be a value. Priorities change as per your circumstances whereas values are embedded, consistent and relevant to everyone.”
The next step was to demonstrate the practical applications of safety as a value, which has involved all employees, at all levels, onboard and ashore working collaboratively and actively participating in building ST's Slashed Zero safety culture.
"We encourage people to reflect on industry trends and incidents – with the help of targeted training and activities, learning engagement tools and safety campaigns – and then find solutions to prevent similar incidents from happening,” says Furtado.
“Our approach is safety of the people, for the people, by the people.” –Ajay Furtado, Global Manager – Safety, Security, Health, Environment and Quality
“All our people have been part of this journey. They are proud of our achievements because they own them, and every employee knows we’re world-class because our results are translated into simple terms. We are part of a safety revolution that sends more people home safe every year. To be able to make a difference gives us intrinsic motivation to get to work and do more.”
Solid foundations
With that in mind, training and awareness are based on industry-leading materials as well as ST’s own resources and expertise. Material from Shell’s Maritime Partners in Safety programme – of which Stolt Tankers is a part – was adapted and combined with videos, object lessons and workshops based on the contributions of ST’s seafarers and shore-based employees.
Furtado admits that this came with its own challenges: “There were difficulties in streamlining material to make it appealing to all people across different cultural backgrounds and age groups. Constant feedback and fine tuning have become the standard way of working for the Slashed Zero team. For example, our new appraisal template was developed based on input from 70 captains, sea personnel, and the SSHEQ team. The result is an objective, clear, and behaviour-based appraisal system for seafarers, which has already been tried with good effect on five of our ships.”
The Team of the Year Award is another example of how ST is creating an environment that nurtures positive, people-led cultural and behavioural change. Won by the crew onboard Stolt Sagaland in 2022, this award is generating measurable results and fleet-wide improvement in categories including port state controls, cost efficiency and, of course, safety.
With blended, practical learning that’s fun as well as informative, Slashed Zero is a refreshing, engaging and inclusive approach to safety.
Engaging programmes, tech-enhanced training
ST’s Unbreakable Life Saving Rules are another lynchpin of the safety strategy. Co-created with seafarers in 2022, these lifesaving, accident-reducing rules were unpacked in training sessions and then shared across the organisation via short, crew-created films that demonstrated their day-to-day applications.
Meanwhile, the 360 movies platform was introduced. This innovative online tool provides intuitive, self-paced training that, again, encourages people to own their own safety journey. For the very first time, they could step into their virtual workplace and master techniques for calling out hazards via real-time learning scenarios.
A good example of ship-to-shore safety collaboration was a film made by teams on both ends of the gangway that included various scenarios of commercial pressure on ships and shore staff and ways to overcome it. "In the past, this topic was rarely touched on, but it impacts significantly on the wellbeing of people," Furtado says. "With this film, we were able to educate people on another aspect of operational safety, and also take steps towards better mental health."
Making the most of everyday technology that employees are familiar with is also having a big impact. “Acting on past mistakes, where incidents and learnings were not passed on quickly enough to ships to avert a similar accident was a clear gap in our strategy,” Furtado explains. “So, we created flash reports and quick alerts via email to flag issues in real time. These easy-to-read and understand communications make for speedier reactions and allow crews to implement immediate safety improvements.
Creating a culture of care
ST also acknowledges that healthy minds make work safer. Mental health plays a crucial role in enabling safety that’s driven by positive behaviours and peer-to-peer interactions. However, this is a difficult topic to talk about in a male-dominated environment. It took years of careful planning and tailor-made learning material for people to now be able to talk to each other about their mental wellbeing and be more open to tips and techniques that help them to manage stress and overcome distractions.
“Seafarers are constantly having to juggle their home and ship lives, and this can be stressful,” Furtado says. So, we introduced e-learning and guided sessions with modules on managing emotions and feelings, and people learned that their struggles were not unique and they were not alone. These materials have reinforced the Stolt culture of care and fostered calmness, respect and unity on board ships and in our offices.”
Slashed Zero’s behaviour-based, interactive approach has applications beyond employee health and safety. For ST’s Compliance and Safety Behaviour Manager, Arjan Kreuze, with even greater digitalisation, the momentum of a positive, proactive culture can become a blueprint for improving customer care and sustainability issues that affect the entire global community. “The whole Slashed Zero concept is about care for people” explains Kreuze, “and we plan to expand this to care for the planet.”
Results and rewards
Like any health and safety programme, Slashed Zero should ultimately be judged by its results – how much of a difference it is making in reducing accidents and ensuring people return from work safe and well.
And the difference is clear. When the programme was introduced in 2018, there were 46 incident-free ships which meant that the majority had experienced an incident, however minor. This figure has improved year-on-year such that in 2022 there were 85 ships without any incidents. There is still work to be done but the trend is continuing in a positive direction.
In terms of rewards, 46 ST ships that called at US ports during 2022 received Jones F. Devlin Awards for Safety from the Chamber of Shipping of America. And customer LyondellBasell awarded ST its 2022 GOALZero Safety Award – presented to suppliers with zero incidents relating to LyondellBasell cargo or terminals throughout the year.
“But,” says Furtado, “the greatest benefit has not been the numbers but the teamwork and professional pride in our safety records, which everyone now sees and feels responsible for. Conscientious and mentally stronger people naturally lead to good numbers. We are performing better than the industry standard and that’s no mean feat.”