Page 50: of Marine News Magazine (May 2018)

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INLAND SAFETY ing to the formation of the River Industry Executive Task turned the regulator/regulated relationships wholly adver-

Force (RIETF). RIETF’s membership included senior rep- sarial. However, the incident also drew renewed attention to resentatives from the major barge lines, senior USACE per- the importance of the human factors and out of this came sonnel and the Commander, Second Coast Guard District. the “Prevention Through People (PTP)” program, guided

The RIETF group became proactive during the balance by USCG VADM James Card. The concept came to life of the low water event in 1988, along with the Lower Mis- through the formation of a Quality Action Team with AWO sissippi River Committee (LOMRC) focused especially on that emphasized their shared goals – to improve marine the river between Memphis and New Orleans. On balance, safety and stewardship – using a cooperative non-regulatory the stakeholders felt that all were caught off guard by the approach driven by data and focused on results. In 1995, severity of the draught and that the formation of these two the Coast Guard and AWO signed a memorandum of Un- groups was one of the greatest bene