Constructing the back deck of an anchor-handling vessel in the US countryside offers safety dividends for InterMoor.
In any discussion about anchor handling, it is the vessels used for this specialised activity that tend to take centre stage: the spotlight falling on their size, power and manoeuvrability. But just as important to the success – and safety – of any mooring project is the competence of the anchor-handling crews who perform the intensely physical and potentially hazardous work on the back decks of these boats.
The question is how to guarantee that competence, as John Bryan, InterMoor’s health and safety manager, explains: “The training of anchor-handling crews is very important. A lot can be learned on the job; working alongside experienced colleagues counts for a great deal. However, people need a solid introduction to this business before they get involved. As no formal training courses are offered by the offshore industry, last year we decided to develop our own.”
Responsibility for designing the course fell to InterMoor marine operations specialist Mike Carcisse, who could not have wished for more support. People from InterMoor’s safety and operations teams quickly became involved, as did a group of the company’s senior anchor handlers, and there was input from Keith Benoit, a vice president of leading training provider M&O Americas Inc. As a result of their combined efforts, early this year, InterMoor launched a Level 1 course aimed at teaching the basic skills needed by anyone carrying out anchor-handling operations off the back deck of a boat.
The course runs for five days and involves a mixture of classroom sessions and practical instruction on a mock anchor-handling deck constructed at M&O’s facilities located, somewhat incongruously, in the heart of the Louisiana countryside. The course focuses on the common tools and principal techniques employed to move equipment around the deck. Bryan describes the course as being about “preparing people for work and instilling in them how to do things safely.” The course concludes with a full-day assessment exercise, during which the trainees are tested on their ability to conduct a job safety analysis for a specified operation, plan the work and then execute it efficiently and safely.
It is now InterMoor policy that all new hires must attend the course before being allowed to work offshore. The aim is also to put all the company’s existing crew members through the course. This has two advantages: it serves as a refresher for people (it is easy to fall into bad habits) and provides valuable feedback on the way the course is run and the topics covered. In the months since the course was introduced, it has already been significantly refined and improved to meet the needs of the people it is intended for. “Our operations people are enthusiastic about the course and have taken real ownership of it,” says Bryan. “At their suggestion, we are looking to add Level 2 and 3 modules aimed at supervisors and marine engineers respectively.”
The course has also caught the attention of the offshore operators, for whom safety is obviously a number-one concern. Several of them have expressed interest in sending staff on the course to help them understand better the challenges involved in this important aspect of offshore operations.
Finally, the deck, such an integral part of the training course, is being lined up for other uses: operations people see great advantage in using the facility to re-enact incidents, to develop solutions to selected handling problems, to test new mooring equipment and to check out fresh back-deck procedures. Bryan sums it up perfectly when he says, “This entire initiative is really all about building an ever-more professional workforce.”