With the new generation of seafarers and an increasing awareness regarding safety, we can consider the maritime industry as one of the safest job. With the implementation of ISM, reports are documented and signed by the crew onboard the ship. But to some extent, the reports that we read may or may not be an honest and straight report? How will we be able to know that we are getting an honest report? The extent of not getting an honest report could result to a serious accident in the future.

Reasons for not getting an Honest Reports

One factor for not getting an honest report is the so called “Self vested interest”. It can be self explanatory or can be simply explained as just write something that will not jeopardize the company or your career. A very bad attitude if you ask me, but this is a very common practices onboard the ship. Let’s give a good example regarding this. Consider reading “Near Miss Reports” and tell me whether you believe everything that is written there.

Another common reason is a strict officer. Let’s make a role playing game this time. Let’s say you are the lowest ranking deck crew onboard the ship. You have a very strict chief officer who never cares about his crew and only cares about the completion of his job orders. Would you care enough to report any unsafe catwalks, valves, machineries or anything that could cause delay to operations, or even a hazard to safety? I don’t think so; I’d guess you’d rather hide it so that maybe in some way that the Chief Officer or even the Captain would be blamed when a Port State Control found those defects that were not immediately rectified.

How to get an Honest Report?

• It’s simple, don’t mess around with your crew. Start treating them as professionals. Respect their rights the way that you’d like your rights to be respected.
  
• Give them the right attitude. A simple smile or tap at his shoulders could brighten up a day’s work.
  
• Tell them to be more open with their ideas and never blame them for somebody else’s fault. Remember that onboard the ship, we are a team, and we should start thinking as a team.
• Ask them their ideas on some task that directly involves them. By doing this, you’re making them more vocal and giving them self esteem.
• You can actually add a lot more into this. Write your comment if you want to add more into this.
  

The common mistakes of leaders which result for not getting Honest Reports?

• A strict and inhuman leader
• Blaming all of the mismanagement and defects onboard the ship to the crew
• The “I Know Everything” attitude
• Pointing to other person for his own mistake

What can we do to get Honest Reports?

We better start changing our own attitude first as a leader before we can change others. A simple example to this is when your cleaning you’re own house. You don’t clean the outside of the house first before the inside. You usually clean the rooms, the dining, etc. Then you start to clean your backyard, garage, and throw your garbage to the can.

As leaders we must take out that ego of “I know everything”, and start looking at our crew as a person with their own thoughts and ideas that sometimes surpasses us. We need all the help that we can get onboard the ship to function as a team, and being able to do that makes us a good leader.

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