Safety Management: Safety Management Systems are extremely important tools at our disposal today. They were supposed to provide management with real efficiencies that would increase the bottom line. In the United States, such has generally not been the case. Quality and SMS have proven to be cumbersome and unwieldy. This is generally because of the way they were written. To increase efficiency and reduce resources involved, these systems desperately need to be streamlined. Appropriate analyses of the SMS and Quality systems can lead to amended systems that significantly reduce the time taken to efficiently operate the vessel and maintain the SMS properly.
Quality: ISO 9000, 14000, and 18000 as well as the International Safety Management (ISM) Code are now relatively mature systems. In many cases the systems installed are still prone to misuse by a firms management as well as operational personnel. Now SEMS is arguably required for all elements of the offshore energy support industry.
Those companies with quality systems in place are placing pressure on all the firms that they do business with to become similarly certified, even if not required to do so by regulators. Compliance methodology brings a company into certification which must be done in a manner that mandates a minimum amount of change in the way that they perform activities and operations.
This is a really important issue. Do not let your firm get behind the 8 Ball. Think about your compliance methodology today. The Havnen Group can assist on several levels with ISO, ISM, SEMS and client requirements.
Casualty Analysis / Expert Witness: Casualties and losses are an integral part of the maritime and offshore business. Whether a collision, fire, explosion or slip, trip or fall, proper investigation of the incident is important for a company to fully understand their full loss potential or cost. With many years of accident investigation experience, as well as regulatory compliance knowledge, the Havnen Group is extremely helpful in insuring that we can get to the bottom of contentious issues and focus on any and all wrongfulness during an incident.
Health: Most company health programs were originally initiated as a result of liability issues to determine if the mariners were sufficiently healthy to perform duties and to minimize losses under Jones Act Maintenance and Cure.
We are far beyond that today. In addition to health insurance issues, OSHA requirements and Wellness programs, Health has become a big issue with HR departments spending a good deal of time and resources to properly maintain. The OSHA requirements represent a significant investment to stay on top of. Not devoting sufficient focus on them can get a company into trouble very quickly. The Havnen Group can assist with OSHA compliance training issues to help minimize their impact upon limited HR resources.
Safety: This issue has been important for many years but has evolved in recent years to monitoring compliance with existing safety initiatives in SEMS, ISM, ISO or client requirements. It seems today that it matters little how much effort is put into OSHA, SSQ, SEMS or clients mandatory procedures, there seems to be more to do and somehow rather different from what you are currently doing. Behavior Based Systems (BBSs) are now the norm and mandated that each individual must do what is required and insure those working around him/her also do so in a safe manner. The days of the old Safety Inspector checking for hard hats, steel toed shoes, work vests and safety glasses are a thing of the past. In today’s complex ever changing regulatory environment additional assistance if often needed assist with various OSHA, SSQ, SEMS or various client compliance issues. Professional assistance is often needed to help keep ones managers heads above water. It is not the complexity of the issues that is the problem, although many are surely very complex, it is the shear number of items and issues that one needs assistance with that is of concern.
Security: The Security regulations of 33 CFR 101 – 106 have been around for nearly 10 years. Security audits and training with continue to be important to a maritime or offshore company’s continued success. The Havnen Group has developed both vessel and facility security plans, audits and training from the onset of the security rules and is capable of satisfying your Security needs.
Environment: Pollution laws and regulations have become a part of everyday life. In addition to OPA 90, now over 20 years old, sewage regulations are even older, we also have NPDES permit issues, air quality, gray water, ballast and aquatic mammal issues as well. Life in the maritime environment has ever increasingly complex. Attempts to comply with all of today’s environmental regulations is extremely difficult without at least occasional outside assistance for an organization like the Havnen Group.
ISM / ISO 9000: ISO programs are becoming ever more pervasive in our work environment. Poorly written, improperly updated, inadequately implemented or badly trained personnel greatly diminish the potential effectiveness of these systems. Many systems in use today seem to be lacking in the potential to truly increase a company’s efficiency or help in the bottom line. The Havnen Group can assist you in streamlining your operation while complying fully with the minimum standards.
Audits: Internal and external audits can be tools to greatly assist is you in bringing your ISM / ISO, SEMS, regulatory requirements or client mandated programs to fruition improving your efficiency and reducing costs at the same time if done correctly. Havnen Group can perform both external and internal audits and maximize increased productivity and loss prevention for you firm.
Regulatory: USCG, EPA, BSEE and others are not bashful in requiring additional and/or modified requirements. This is done by both changes in policy and regulation. In some cases it is done with entirely new regulations. Compliance with these issues has become an ever increasing burden. IADC, OMSA, AWO, NAPVO and other fine trade associations do wonders at keeping their membership apprised of changes and compliance strategies as they occur. The Havnen Group can help you implement those strategies or bring your company into compliance with new changes in policy or regulation. You need our assistance.
OVID / CMID: The Offshore Inspection Database (OVID) and Common Marine Inspection Document (CMID) are voluntary systems of inspection for ships engaged in the offshore industry to insure adequate compliance with regulatory requirements. The results of these inspections may prove important to the continued use of your vessel(s) on the job. The Havnen Group can assist you through these inspections through the use of preparatory inspections or by accompanying the OVID/CMID inspectors during their inspection and insure that only those rules and regulations applicable to your vessels are noted in the inspection report.
OCS Citizenship issues: If you employ non-US citizens as specialists and need to bring them on-site offshore to get the job done, we can work with the USCG to allow temporary access to the Outer Continental Shelf.
With the heightened security awareness that's become the order of the day in the contemporary environment, it's more challenging than ever to get approval for foreign national personnel. We have developed a strong working relationship with the Coast Guard and a proven strategy for maximizing your personnel's opportunity to do their job without undue delay.
Compliance with the Outer Continental Shelf -- Lands Act (OCS-LA) citizenship requirements of 33 CFR Part 141 can be critical to the successful and timely completion of any project on the OCS. The current law requires that US citizens (which includes aliens who are admitted for citizenship and have green cards) with few exceptions be employed on any fixed, floating platform or vessel engaged in OCS activities. These include:
The exceptions to the citizenship requirements are include:
Individual rulings must be obtained from the USCG in each of these cases.
This issue has become far more important in this post-9/11 world.