Near Miss Reporting – Training Mariners to Speak Up

Whether it’s an unsafe working condition, an equipment failure, or a concern about a colleague’s competency, mariners must feel empowered to voice concerns without fear of retribution. For all the training you invest in, nothing is more important than a mariner using their intuition and instincts, refined over a lifetime at sea, to recognize and act on potential dangers.

One way the industry has encouraged this is through Near Miss Reporting, a process meant to catch safety hazards before they turn into incidents. However, too often, mariners hesitate to report these issues due to fear of consequences or the belief that their concerns won’t be taken seriously. Addressing this challenge requires more than just policies—it requires training mariners to speak-up and creating an environment that fosters psychological safety.

Lessons from Aviation: The Copilot’s Role in Safety

In the aviation industry, copilots are explicitly trained to challenge the pilot if they see something concerning. Studies of past airline disasters have shown that hierarchical structures can discourage junior crew members from questioning their superiors, sometimes with fatal consequences. Aviation has since trained pilots and copilots to embrace a culture of cross-checking and speaking up.
This concept, known as Crew Resource Management (CRM),