CEMS CREW ENDURANCE MANAGEMENT MAKING IT WORK ETTING TARTED, A Product of the Coast Guard - AWO Safety Partnership

Transcription

1 CEMS G S ETTING CREW ENDURANCE MANAGEMENT TARTED, MAKING IT WORK A Product of the Coast Guard - AWO Safety Partnership

2 What is CEMS? The Crew Endurance Management System, or CEMS, is a process to manage risk factors that contribute to decreased physical stamina and mental alertness among mariners. These risk factors, which have been identified through sleep science research, increase the risk of human error and degrade performance. Through 25 years of research and use by U.S. Army Special Forces and the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center, CEMS has proven an effective way to manage these risk factors. CEMS has been implemented in a variety of maritime operations, including, over the last five years, inland, coastal, and harbor towing vessels. CEMS is gaining momentum as a process that improves crew endurance by helping crews deal with endurance-related risk factors. To be effective, CEMS requires a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to addressing such issues as awareness and education; lifestyle issues like diet and exercise; the physical environment on board vessels, including light exposure management; company policies and procedures; and watch schedules. CEMS is not a one-shot-and-you re-done process; it s a cycle of continuous improvement in which you analyze risks, establish a plan to deal with those risks, implement the plan, evaluate the results, and modify the plan as necessary. In Your Own Words: Marty Wyatt Relief Captain M/V Doug Barker Under CEMS, the crew has teamed up to improve their quality of life on the boats and at home. Working as a group has made it easier to exercise, eat healthier and get better quality sleep. CEMS is not a one-size-fits-all system. It can be tailored to meet your company s and crews needs, whether you operate line-haul boats on the Mississippi River, fleet boats in St. Louis Harbor, ocean-going tugs on the Atlantic or Pacific coasts, or harbor tugs in Baltimore, New Orleans, or San Francisco

3 In Your Own Words: John Baker Corporate Quality Manager Kirby Corporation CEMS is a practical answer to addressing maritime safety issues, overall mariner health, and potential fatigue issues. Whether you are a one-boat operator or a multiple boat operator, CEMS can and will help you achieve your goals of decreased safety incidents and improved quality of life for you and your employees. Q & A Q: I have lunch-bucket boats without live-aboard crews. What can I do to implement CEMS? A: Dayboat crews have the same physiological needs as live-aboard crews. Everyone needs adequate rest, good nutrition, and the ability to take advantage of light management. All crewmembers, including dayboat and harbor service crews, should be educated about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, factors that affect quality rest, and how to manage their time off for optimum performance. Some companies using CEMS have adjusted the watch schedule for their dayboats by changing crews at 0400 and 1600 to allow crews to get to bed before the sun rises, which promotes more effective sleep. Why implement CEMS in my company s operations? Each company will have its own reasons to implement CEMS, but here are some that are applicable to all companies: to further my success in achieving the goal of zero accidents. to reduce crewmembers stress level, which may help to reduce crew turnover. to improve crewmembers decision-making, which is linked to reducing accident rates. to improve crewmembers quality of life, reduce medical costs, and improve my company s bottom line. How does CEMS work with my safety management system? Like a safety management system, CEMS is a process; it s an ongoing effort to improve mariners work and rest environments that will lead to improved quality of life and improved productivity. Just like implementing a safety management system, CEMS implementation will require cultural changes, which can be slow to evolve. Many company managers and vessel crewmembers who were once skeptics of both safety management systems and CEMS can t imagine operating without either system now. As with safety management system implementation, implementing CEMS will require personnel from all areas of your company to be involved and support the process. How much time will CEMS take? CEMS is about doing things differently, not doing something extra or time-consuming. While it does take some time up front to attend CEMS training, establish a work group, conduct a risk assessment, and develop a crew endurance plan, over the long haul CEMS doesn t mean adding new steps to your crewmembers busy schedules. It means finding ways to keep them refreshed, productive, and safe as they go about their work.

4 How much will CEMS cost me? Getting started with CEMS requires little upfront cost. There will be some training costs to send someone from your company to Coaches Training, a 2-day course offered by a variety of providers around the country. You can also expect some additional costs for awareness and training as your roll CEMS out throughout your fleet. Instruments like light and sound level meters may be needed to help assess environmental risk factors onboard your vessels. In the long term, your risk assessment could identify onboard environmental issues that should be addressed to reduce the risks. It s up to you to decide which risk factors to address and how much to spend. Experience has shown many very effective changes cost little or nothing. O.k. - so how do I get started? Starting a CEMS program is a classic case of the chicken and the egg -- which comes first? You can send someone to CEMS coaches training or create awareness within your company about the benefits of CEMS. Both methods have worked well for other companies, and you have the flexibility to choose what s right for you. You might send someone to coaches training first, so that your newly trained coach can come back and conduct awareness training for others in the company; or you might start by creating broad awareness, which then prompts the decision to send someone to coaches training. Q & A Q: Why should I start a CEMS program now? A: Why wait? You ve just read about the benefits of CEMS, for your company, your crewmembers, and your bottom line. The maritime industry operates 24 hours, 7 days a week, and endurance risk factors are present in any 24-hour industry. Congress and the public expect 24-7 industries to recognize these risks and take steps to prevent fatigueinduced incidents. Why wait for an accident - or a new law or regulation - when you can start now to realize the benefits that CEMS has to offer? If you decide to begin by creating awareness but do not have someone in your company who is familiar with CEMS, you might consider having a knowledgeable coach or expert from another company help you get started. A list of experts and practicing companies is available from the Coast Guard

5 CEMS Tip! The Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP), a governmentindustry cooperative sponsored by the Maritime Administration, has developed an interactive CD-ROM program that provides an overview of CEMS principles for crewmembers. The CD can be used by crews during safety meetings to familiarize themselves with CEMS principles. The Coast Guard will distribute copies of the CD to all AWO members in the fall of Here are a few ideas to get you started. Start at the point that best fits your level of understanding about CEMS: Check out the Coast Guard s CEMS website at Review the CEMS: The System pamphlet available on the website. Review the CEMS Executive Level Presentation available on the website. Talk to a CEMS Expert. For a list of CEMS experts in your area, call the Coast Guard at (202) Go to Coaches Training. Check each issue of the AWO Letter for a current list of scheduled CEMS training opportunities. Once you re ready to send someone to coaches training, choosing the right person to send is important. Here are some things to keep in mind as you decide: A coach should be a respected individual who can communicate effectively with all levels in your company, from the CEO to the deckhands. The individual s job title is less important than his or her level of respect in the company and ability to communicate with others. The person you select for coaches training should be open-minded, inquisitive, and unafraid of change. You may already have people in your company who ve expressed an interest in endurance issues. By all means, encourage these individuals to go to coaches training and become CEMS champions

6 What will my newly trained coach do when he or she returns from training? Your coach will be ready to spread the word about CEMS to other individuals within your company, and establish a Crew Endurance Working Group (CEWG) to formally start your CEMS program (more about the CEWG below). In some companies, the coach has found it useful to conduct awareness training about CEMS and its benefits at captains meetings and briefings to company leaders. Spreading information about CEMS helps to generate interest in trying it at your company. Vertical and horizontal alignment are keys to a successful CEMS program. What does that mean? Management commitment is critical to the success of any new process. This is especially true of an endurance management program. Without visible support from the top of the organization and commitment from all layers of management, CEMS will be difficult to implement successfully. Because implementation affects the lifestyle of the crew, CEMS also requires support and commitment at the deck-plate levels of the organization. In the language of CEMS, this commitment is called vertical and horizontal alignment. Vertical alignment refers to all the tiers of the organization being committed to the success of the program. This doesn t just mean verbal support, but a true understanding of the program so that any manager or worker can discuss the components of the program knowledgeably. Horizontal alignment is getting everyone involved at all levels of the operational organization - what you might call going deep and wide. What you re really doing is creating the infrastructure for success. When more people in your management structure understand and believe in CEMS, you ll have greater likelihood of implementing it successfully. Smaller companies have an advantage in this area since they have fewer layers of management to align. In Your Own Words: Chuck King Vice President Buffalo Marine Service, Inc. We were using crew endurance techniques at Buffalo and we didn t even know it. We have always had a program of healthier eating, exercise, and no smoking, all of which are a part of the CEMS process. Buffalo has modified all of its vessels with additional doors and insulation to minimize the noise level in the crew sleeping quarters. Modifications have also been made to provide light control in the quarters, galley/lounge and the wheelhouse. We have also established company policies of quietness while crewmembers are sleeping and/or napping. We have continued encouraging our employees through education to eat healthier, exercise more and to quit smoking. We have created an incentive program to reduce the numbers of crewmembers that smoke by providing them with additional pay when the whole boat is smoke-free. We have availed ourselves of the services of a CEMS Expert, trained two coaches, and will train two more in the near term. After this training we will form a company CEMS Working Group and formalize our process in accordance with the published CEMS Guide and the Expert and Coaches training programs. We believe in CEMS and its benefits and will be in the process very soon

7 The Process Step-by-Step The person you send to coaches training will come back prepared to help shepherd your company through the CEMS process. As shown in the figure below, the process involves five steps: I. Set up a Crew Endurance Working Group. II. Analyze the current situation. III. Develop a Crew Endurance Plan. IV. Implement the Crew Endurance Plan. V. Evaluate the results. Crew Endurance Management The Crew Endurance Management System (CEMS) was developed to manage the endurancerelated risk factors that can degrade human performance and lead to human error. The CEMS process has five steps, four of which are repeated in a cycle of continuous improvement: I. Set up Crew Endurance Work Group (CEWG) consisting of personnel from all levels of the organization. Their job is to keep the company s CEMS efforts on course. III. Develop a Crew Endurance Plan (CEP). Based on the risk assessment results, the CEWG recommends ways to improve conditions. DON T try to change everything at once -- the CEMS process is cyclic. Focus on low-cost, high-return items first and make a good faith effort to address each risk factor as much as possible. CEM plans should address all CEMS components (see center box), and be deployed in the order as listed. II. Analyze current situation. Use the Crew Endurance Risk Factor Survey / Decision Support System to determine how and why the endurance levels of crewmembers are affected by your business and operations. CEMS Components 1. Education 2. Environmental changes 3. Light management 4. Trained coaches 5. Schedule changes IV. Implement Crew Endurance Plan. This is where the system modifications recommend in Step III are completed. These might include physical changes to crew quarters, new onboard policies, and changes in watch schedules. This is also where coaches are called upon to help with the process and overcome obstacles. V. Evaluate Results. Crew Endurance Plans should be evaluated periodically to see if risk factors have decreased. Distribute the Crew Endurance Risk Factor Survey or use the Decision Support System to gauge your progress. Repeat the cycle for those areas that need attention

8 I. Set Up a Crew Endurance Working Group The Crew Endurance Working Group (CEWG) is responsible for all aspects of implementing CEMS in a company, in a fleet, or on a vessel. The scope of the group s work is up to you -- some companies have found it helpful to establish a company-wide CEWG, while others have started with a single vessel or a subset of the fleet. The CEWG is responsible for identifying endurance risk factors, creating a collaborative network to facilitate CEMS implementation, and developing and implementing the Crew Endurance Plan. CEMS Tip! Companies have found that all members of the CEWG benefit from CEMS coaches training. To be effective, a CEWG must include or represent everyone that could be affected by the implementation of CEMS. For example, a working group might include one or two company executives, personnel from the operations, maintenance, and safety departments, and vessel personnel. The group should be led by a trained coach who understands the science and practice of CEMS and can help educate other working group members. II. Analyze the Current Situation The working group s first task is to analyze the current situation by identifying the individual and environmental risk factors that may affect crew endurance in a particular operation. There are 15 individual risk factors that can affect crew endurance. These risk factors consider sleep, scheduling, physical stresses, environmental stresses, and personal stresses. The number of environmental risk factors that are relevant to a given operation will depend on the vessel, the type of operation, and the location where the vessel operates. Environmental risk factors are closely related to individual risk factors and deal with the effects of the work or rest environment on crew endurance. Trip Hazards to Avoid: Don t confuse the presence of risk factors with risky or unsafe operations. The presence of endurance risk factors should not be viewed as a negative indicator of the safety of a vessel or the state of a company s safety program. Such risk factors are present in any 24-hour, 7-day-a-week - 7 -

9 - 8 - Q & A Q: I can t tell my crewmembers when to sleep and I can t tell them what to do on their time off, so how can CEMS make a difference? A: Implementing CEMS is a challenge and requires a sea change in thinking for both management and crews. A successful CEMS program emphasizes the benefits of a good diet, exercise, and an awareness of the factors that affect quality rest. This knowledge can help crewmembers manage their time off, both on the boat and at home, for optimum performance. In Your Own Words: Houston Money Lead Tankerman Barge Everglades Since having been involved in the CEMS program, I have personally gained a great deal of insight concerning sleep patterns. I have been able to make some adjustments to my daily habits that have greatly improved my mental and physical health. I practice the lighting and diet rules at home as well as on the boat. Thanks for the training. operation. In fact, by identifying the most prominent risk factors in your operation, you have actually taken the first step to improving safety, simply by increasing awareness. Such action should be seen as evidence of an advancing safety culture. Identifying the presence of a risk factor does not necessarily mean that you must address that factor to be considered practicing CEMS. Simply becoming aware of a risk factor is, in many cases, a significant improvement in the overall safety culture. There are times when addressing a particular risk factor is beyond a company s reach or inconsistent with the nature of its operations. A challenge for any company implementing CEMS is to select and prioritize which risk factors to address so as to achieve the greatest overall reduction in risk in the most efficient way. Prioritizing risk factors and determining the best mitigation strategies are involved in the next step in the CEMS process. The process you use to perform the endurance risk assessment is up to you. However, there are several tools available to assist your Crew Endurance Working Group in this assessment. Decision Support Software can be provided to trained CEMS coaches to assist in the gathering of individual risk factors, either through surveys or interviews. Environmental risk factors are best gathered through vessel visits by a person trained in CEMS. Checklists and computer spreadsheets are available to assist in data collection. Once you ve identified the risk factors that exist in your operations, and understood why they re there, the Crew Endurance Working Group brainstorms possible ways to mitigate those risk factors, using the five CEMS tools: education, environmental changes, light management, trained coaches, and schedule changes. III. Develop a Crew Endurance Plan Once the working group has brainstormed the range of possibilities for addressing the identified risk factors, it s ready to develop a Crew Endurance Plan (CEP). There is no set format for the CEP. Your company should use the format that is most appropriate for your particular operation and management style.

10 Some companies have found it useful to have an overall company-wide plan for implementing CEMS, but in any case, there should also be a plan to address the specific risk factors for each vessel. This can take the form of a single plan that covers all vessels in the fleet, or individual plans for each of your company s vessels. Regardless of format, the CEP should contain specific recommendations to address the most critical risk factors identified by the CEWG. These recommendations will generally fall into two major categories: 1. Operational Recommendations include changes to policies, practices, or procedures related to vessel operation and may include: Time management (e.g., shower and meal times) Light management Watch changes (e.g., schedule changes, napping) 2. Environmental Recommendations include changes to the work and rest environment and may include: Trip Hazards to Avoid: One AWO member company says that its biggest mistake in implementing CEMS was moving too fast. Based on its experience, this company recommends starting with small steps like environmental improvements that are relatively easy to implement. This begins the CEMS process in a way that demonstrates to crewmembers that the company cares about their quality of life and paves the way for more dramatic changes later. On-board policies (e.g., courtesy to off-watch sleepers, avoiding excessive use of throttle, etc.) Physical changes (e.g., making sleeping areas darker, quieter, and more comfortable; increasing lighting in certain areas of the vessel, etc.) In developing the plan, keep two things in mind: 1. The CEMS process is a cyclic effort to bring about long-term culture change. You can t do everything -- that is, eliminate all your risk factors -- at once, and you shouldn t try. Picking the lowhanging fruit first -- low-cost, high-impact changes you can make in the short term -- will help to jump-start your CEMS implementation effort and build enthusiasm for further improvements down the road. 2. The five CEMS tools should be deployed in the order listed. For example, don t even think about changing crew watch schedules without a solid foundation of education first! - 9 -

11 In Your Own Words: Joann Salyers Safety Supervisor and CEMS Expert Blessey Marine Services, Inc. One excessive coffee drinker was in the habit of loading his many cups of coffee throughout the day with a large amount of sugar. Through the implementation of CEMS, he was encouraged to reduce his coffee intake and drink more water. He says this change has made him feel better, a fact substantiated by his crew who report him to be much more relaxed and easier to live with. CEMS Tip! For best results, the CEWG should maintain an active education program for crewmembers and ensure that crew endurance evaluations occur at least twice a year. IV. Implement the Crew Endurance Plan Just do it! Implement the changes called for in your Crew Endurance Plan. To do that, you ll need to find an effective way to provide onboard support for your CEMS implementation effort. After all, it s what happens on the boats, day in and day out, that will determine whether your plan achieves its goals. Here s where a coach (or team of coaches) can help. A coach can: Model good endurance management practices through his or her own behavior, actively encourage crewmembers to follow these practices themselves, and monitor/reinforce adherence to the CEMS plan. Provide information to crewmembers on the science of CEMS, including diet, exercise, caffeine use, environmental stressors, physiological requirements, and sleep and body clock management. Help crewmembers learn how to maximize the benefits of rest opportunities. Good company-wide communication regarding the company s crew endurance implementation plan is also important, and it s essential that the communication and feedback loop include crewmembers. Crew buy-in is critical to the success of the CEMS! V. Evaluate Results Crew Endurance Plans should be evaluated periodically to see whether identified risk factors have decreased. Evaluate the plan using the same tools - the Crew Endurance Risk Factor Survey or the Decision Support System - that you used to identify risk factors at the outset. Most companies implementing CEMS have found it helpful to conduct an initial evaluation of the CEP within 60 days, and then semi-annual reviews thereafter. Since endurance risk factors have been scientifically linked to accident risk, a reduced incidence of risk factors is a measure of CEMS success. Long-term indicators of success such as reduced turnover, injury rates, or near misses may not be measurable in the near term, but reducing risk

12 factors is evidence that your CEMS implementation effort is on the right track. How about a real-world example? This example comes from a vessel participating in a Coast Guard-AWO CEMS demonstration project: Step 1: A Crew Endurance Working Group was assembled, consisting of the company safety manager, company operations manager, and the entire vessel crew. Before beginning its work, the CEWG was trained in the science of crew endurance and the process of crew endurance management. Step 2: Once trained, the working group analyzed the current situation by studying the vessel s operational system and its major components. The CEWG identified the relationships between these major components and isolated specific factors within each component that were affecting crew endurance. Trip Hazards to Avoid: Don t expect everything to happen all at once. CEMS implementation is a process of continuous improvement. Don t become sidetracked by CEMS skeptics who discourage you from learning more when they don t understand CEMS and its benefits themselves. Don t just put the CEM Guide on the boats and expect to start doing CEMS! Avoid focusing on changing the watch schedule initially. It is not recommended during the early phases of CEMS implementation. Operational Component Diet Individual Choices Factors Affecting Crew Endurance Crewmembers were eating large meals immediately after watch before going to bed. Crewmembers were also consuming large quantities of caffeine. Crewmembers were being kept awake by noises associated with crews handling rigging near the vessel; slamming doors or banging manhole covers; and using TVs, radios, handheld VHF radios, etc. at high-volume levels. Towing Vessel Environment Crewmembers were being awakened by sudden movements of the vessel. Crewmembers were also being kept awake by light coming into crew quarters through window ports and air vents in the doors. Company Policies Crewmembers were delayed in getting to sleep by having to take showers after watch and meals, and having to wait to be relieved for meals

13 In Your Own Words: Dan Rogers Captain M/V Big Al We are presently working the 8-4 schedule. It seems to be working well for us. We did hear a little grumbling from the pilots from time to time because of the longer working period at night, but we have addressed this by backing up the watch even further so they now get off watch at 0400 and then sleep hard from 0400 to We have also cut back on the loud projects such as chipping and grinding until the afternoon so as to allow the back watch a quieter sleep period. This also breaks up the projects so no one tankerman has to do all the outside work. At 0200 we dim the lights down for the back watch crew so they don t get hit with too much light prior to bed. I have also increased our bottled water purchases, which have helped to cut down on our soda and caffeine consumption and have helped us achieve better rest. Step 3: On the basis of its analysis, the CEWG developed a list of specific recommendations. These included the following operational policies and environmental changes: Early showers will be allowed. However, crewmembers will be expected to discuss any work to be completed before taking early showers. An early shower does not relieve anyone of any duties to be performed on watch. Early meals will be allowed, provided they do not interfere with the cook. Crewmembers coming on watch will be given priority seating at meal times. Pilothouse personnel will actively avoid rapid changes in throttle settings whenever practicable. Deck crew will actively minimize noise associated with the performance of their duties. This will include handling rigging with care near the vessel. Crewmembers will avoid slamming doors or banging manhole covers. Crewmembers will keep TVs, radios, handheld VHF radios, etc. to mutually acceptable volume levels. Baffles will be installed on stateroom doors to allow airflow while restricting noise and light. Slide panels will be installed over exterior stateroom windows to restrict light. Step 4: Once the CEWG s recommendations were approved, the Crew Endurance Plan was deployed. Crew Endurance Management Coaches Training was provided, as well as information on diet and stress management. The vessel s own onboard coaches then carried out additional crewmember training during normal operations

14 Crewmembers were invited to make suggestions to improve the Crew Endurance Plan and ensured that all of the system modifications recommended in the final CEP were made. Vessel coaches served as models for crew emulation and monitored adherence to the new policies and procedures. Step 5: At various times during the implementation phase, the program was assessed using the Crew Endurance Risk Factor Survey/Decision Support System. This assessment showed significantly reduced risk factors scores. In addition, crewmembers reported feeling much less fatigued by the end of their 30-day tour, showed indications of well-adapted body clocks, and experienced minimal lapses in alertness. However, the CEWG also found that the crew had reported disrupted sleep due to broken-down mattresses and noisy machinery vibration. Based on a recommendation by the CEWG, the company decided to replace the mattresses as soon as possible, but decided that noisedampening measures for the machinery would have to wait until the next major maintenance period. In Your Own Words: Capt. Don Hinson Southern Fleet Manager and CEMS Expert Penn Maritime, Inc. Having started in this industry back in 1970, I have seen what can be accomplished through small steps using CEMS. We all came from 6- on/6-off and now we are breaking the surface on a 4-on/8-off schedule. Crews feel better. They are more rested. We are making our vessels quieter through small changes in the environment. Crewmembers drink more water and they eat better. Get on board with this: CEMS will work. Give it a chance

15 The American Waterways Operators 801 North Quincy Street, Suite 200 Arlington, VA Phone: (703) United States Coast Guard Human Element and Ship Design Division (G-MSE-1) 2100 Second Street, SW Washington, D.C. Phone: (202)