Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Our focus is on the continuous improvement of health and safety management systems and the development of employee knowledge.
Implementing a variety of ongoing initiatives to maintain a healthy and safe work environment were particularly critical during the year. The focus was on physical and mental health and safety, working conditions including working from home, employee assistance program, safe social activities, employee engagement surveys and opportunities for personal development.
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UNSDG |
Target 2020 |
Result 2020 |
Target 2021 |
|
Provide a safe working environment for our employees and seafarers. We actively launch campaigns to increase competence in health and safety behaviour. |
Several wellbeing campaigns and COVID-19 safety-related communication were launched to engage with our employees and crew. |
We will continue to apply appropriate COVID-19 response measures and wellness activities for our employees and seafarers. |
COVID-19 Health & Safety Response
In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, Wilhelmsen Ship Management implemented the following operational adjustments to secure the well-being of our employees and crew as we strive to deliver an uninterrupted operability of our fleet.
Response to COVID-19 onshore
The health, safety, and wellness of our employees is the number one priority in our COVID-19 response. Through 2020, we have responded globally and locally to the situation with communications, site risk assessments, business continuity planning (BCP) and situation reporting in place for our business units and local emergency response teams.
During our annual engagement survey, employees responded that they feel well taken care of, have received sufficient and timely information, have experienced the company taking sufficient measures to reduce risk of infection, and have been able to keep motivated despite most working from home.
In 2021, we will continue to apply appropriate COVID-19 response measures and wellness activities for our employees.
|
Social Distancing of Shore Employees |
Stepping Up Cyber Security |
Disinfection of Offices |
Communication |
Physical and Mental Health |
|
Employees are mostly operating from home or at half-office-workforce as required by local government recommendations. The affected offices are operating under their business continuity plan to ensure continuity of services. This arrangement continues until further notice. |
Working from home as securely as possible during the pandemic is high on our agenda. We have stepped up our cyber security initiatives and communicated the guidelines to all employees. Employees are reminded to stay vigilant as we expect an increase in fraud attempts. |
We have disinfected our offices and complied with local governments' guidelines on social distancing arrangements to prepare for the return of our employees to their workplaces. |
Employees have been kept updated on the latest progress of the outbreak situation and business continuity plan via our intranet. Our employees receive e-mail updates with current social distancing orders from respective governments. |
We took the proactive route to reach out to employees to boost morale as mental health is priority during this period. |
Response to COVID-19 for seafarers
In the initial stages of the pandemic, crew change moved from being operationally challenging, to a humanitarian crisis. During the year, we conducted crew changes where possible, when risk mitigation conditions were met, and according to international and local guidelines.
Management has also been active in raising awareness of the need for seafarers to be recognized as key workers, to enable the safe and unhindered movement of seafarers to and from their workplace.
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Crew Change |
Port Call |
Communication |
Physical and Mental Health |
|
At the height of COVID-19, most countries/cities
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When calling at port, crew must take precautionary measures to protect themselves. Crew are familiarized with the safety guidelines focusing on safety measures to be taken prior to, during stay and after departure |
We have heightened our communication frequency with our vessels through port updates and safety bulletins. It is essential to keep the crew updated on the latest progress of the outbreak and
In addition the CEO & President has been making personal calls to speak with crew that are onboard every week to gauge the morale and seek feedback on how we can support them better during this difficult time. This interaction has been very well appreciated by the crew and valuable to the management. |
On board health and safety culture are top priority for all crew. Our mental health campaigns were launched and we encourage our seafarers to reach out for help. |
Health and safety metrics
|
Onshore (exposure 8 hours a day, 5 days a week) |
|||
|
Shore-based employees |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
|
Exposure hours |
1,060,249 |
1,015,278 |
941,979 |
|
Lost time injury frequency rate (target 0.50) |
0* |
0.98 |
1.06 |
|
Total recordable case frequency rate (target 1.50) |
0* |
0.98 |
1.06 |
|
Safety observations |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Sickness absence |
1.1% |
1.66% |
1.10% |
* Due to the pandemic a majority of our employees are working from home
|
Onboard (exposure 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) |
|||
|
Crew |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
|
Exposure hours |
35,570,856 |
29,683,152 |
30,437,640 |
|
Lost time injury frequency rate (target 0.50) |
0.28 |
0.32 |
0.28 |
|
Total recordable case frequency rate (target 2.60) |
1.4 |
1.46 |
1.4 |
|
Safety observations |
10,969 |
9,782 |
9,126 |
In 2021, our health and safety targets will be for LTIF rate not to exceed 0.40, and for TRCF rate not to exceed 2.80 on vessels and 1.00 onshore.
|
Target 2020 |
Result 2020 |
Target 2021 |
|
LTIF onshore not to exceed 0.50 |
0 |
not to exceed 0.40 |
|
TRCF onshore not to exceed 1.50 |
0 |
not to exceed 1.00 |
|
LTIF onboard not to exceed 0.50 |
0.28 |
not to exceed 0.40 |
|
TRCF onboard not to exceed 2.80 |
1.40 |
not to exceed 2.80 |
Vessel visits & mental well-being
The COVID-19 pandemic made crew changes extremely difficult: due to the hard lockdowns imposed by nations, it was an exceptional challenge to secure flights and fluid changes in national and international regulations.
We are extremely grateful at the resilience of our crew showed during these times. As we could not sign-off our overdue crew, we made sure members of senior management, including our CEO, had direct engagement with them – receiving feedback on what we could to assist them.
Vessel visits by CEO and senior management
Our CEO and senior management team conduct on board visits to drive the safety message and observe the overall well-being of the crew. Open dialogues with crew help us identify improvement opportunities and receive their feedback in accomplishing our safety commitments.
Scheduled vessel calls or visits
Our CEO has been doing personal calls to speak with crew that are onboard every week. The objective of these calls is to gauge crew morale and seek feedback from crew on how we can support them better during this difficult time. Such calls have been very well appreciated by the crew and valuable to the management.
Mental well-being
As many of our employees are working from home, we acknowledge the strain of balancing work and personal space. We hosted virtual sessions conducted by a certified professional to help employees recognize the early signs of burnout and ways to alleviate it, making sure all employees are aware of, and can access, professional support if needed. We increased the active promotion of our mental health programmes to both onshore, and onboard employees and encouraged them to talk to peers and colleagues about how the pandemic has affected them.
Seafarers face unique working conditions which can put them under a lot of stress. The mental health of our crew is a priority of our organization, and one that has only been made more acute in the past year. We have developed crew-centric campaigns which promote the early signs of mental health issues and how to recognize them. We have trained key crew members to be initial “councilors”, and have a dedicated fast-elevation procedure if they feel any member of the crew needs shore-side support.