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INLAND MARINE OPERATIONS zone. At times I went to places where would have shared this with the com- up that put their wheels far apart –one comfort wasn’t a word. So when the pany and barge owner. The company boat on each side of the barge plus a call comes to do it again, we do. Be- would have the captain’s back and all boat on the stern. In theory, they could cause we have done it. All the terror of parties would work to mitigate the risk have twisted the barge in any direction the moment, the sweat, and the mus- to “As Low as is Reasonably Practical.” and had the bene? t of a boat on the cle strain are forgotten. We’ve got this. It’s all too easy to put myself on that stern that could back against the cur- boat. They had the horsepower. They rent as they worked the barge.

We’ve Got This … had the experience. They had a tow set So when they set down on the crane

And we can’t say NO. NO is hard for a couple of reasons. First, none of us like to admit that we can’t do some- thing. Especially when someone else has done it. The good captains tend to be Type ‘A’ personalities who are up for a challenge. We are not going to say NO. Secondly, even with all the changes in our industry, NO can still cost you your job. And NO, if accept- ed by your boss, can still keep your company from getting work because dispatchers/project managers/owners remember NO. When the next job comes up, you are passed over in favor of the company or even tug within a company that said yes and got the job done. Safety is great for slogans and

PR, but at crunch time at too many companies, performance at the cheap- est price possible is the winner.

I see this in big companies and small. I was the victim and willing participant when I owned my tug. I took jobs to pay the bills and I said

NO at my peril. Most decisions were by committee. I would sit down with my captains and crew and lay it all out, ask for the pros and cons of do- ing the job, weigh the responses. Nine times out of ten, the Type A-personal- ity in us made the decision and there were times I regretted getting the crew into the mess that the tow had be- come. Mother Nature was bound and determined to teach me to say NO.

How Would ‘Sub M’ have prevented this?

With a fully implemented TSMS, the captains would have committed the Risk Assessment to paper. They 41 www.marinelink.com MN

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