NO. 3. 2009. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA
Safety Coach is a role model Things have been fast in recent years in ESVAGT - but the ESVAGT soul and spirit must always be present. Safety coaches will ensure that. As HSEQ Manager, Steffen Rudbech is responsible for ESVAGT employees working according to the regulations and standards in ESVAGT. He must ensure that employees in addition to their professionalism and education also know the ESVAGT corporate culture when they go to work. Sometime it can be difficult to monitor and adjust to, when the employee are on a ship. And with the heavy expansion ESVAGT has been through the last few years, Steffen Rudbech felt that corporate culture was about to be spread out in a slightly thin layer: - It's been really fast in ESVAGT in recent years. In 2007 and 2008 we got many new ships and many new employees. The ships came home quickly and went directly on charter - and it left a need for training in everything that we are good at, says Steffen Rudbech. To be used in everyday life This had to be changed. But when ships are on charter - and we cannot take the crews out of the schedule for long courses - we had to find another model: - We considered having courses onshore, but we changed our minds quickly. We have much respect for the crews’ off periods, so we had to find another way. And then the safety coaches were invented, says Steffen Rudbech. Safety coaches are travellers in the "corporate culture". Jens Aage Fjordside, Henrik Madsen and Henning Mærsk Jensen were appointed safety coaches in ESVAGT with the aim of ensuring that ESVAGT’s employees are also working the ESVAGT way: - They go offshore to train the staff there. That has been a good experience. First, we do not use our employees’ off periods on a course. And second the education is a lot more practical when it does not take place in a training room, but on the ship where the employee has his daily life. This makes the process far more practical and easier to relate to - what you learn can be used in everyday life afterwards, says Steffen Rudbech.
Must be sailors! ESVAGT has also been very conscious about finding those safety coaches who in addition to a good and thorough knowledge of ESVAGT values also had some slightly different sets of skills: - It was important that the safety coach was "one of our own." That they were sailors, not white colours. And with Jens Aage Fjordside and Henrik Madsen who are captains, and Henning Mærsk Jensen, who is an A.B. we have found the right people, says Steffen Rudbech:
- Both Fjordside, Madsen and Mærsk have been with ESVAGT for many years. They know the organization onboard, and they complement each other really well. They represent a culture which we would like to be incorporated throughout the organization. We have been very conscious of choosing persons with different skills and different ways of doing things - they are also very good examples of the values and culture we look for, says Steffen Rudbech. According to Steffen Rudbech, the work the three safety coaches perform is lauded by the crews. n Also see the article on page 4.
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