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TRAINING & EDUCATION orientation programs. As a general guideline, if there unsafe conditions, we have a golden opportunity to is an rule regulating some aspect of operations, there address the foundations of why it is important, and is a training requirement in there somewhere. An op- to stress the rights and obligations of shared respon- erator which trains only to the explicit requirements sibility for safety held by every member of the crew. is setting itself and, more importantly, its employees Do we train only the knowledge and skill? Or do we up for failure. ensure that our of? cers and crew understand the criti- cal role and important contribution that is required of

There is Training, and each of them so that the team can effectively achieve

Then There is Training! safe and performant operations? Every item being

Possibly more important than the training require- trained represents an opportunity to understand not ments of subchapter M is how we choose to teach just the what, but more importantly the why of the them. As an example, let’s look at the requirement to need to “get it right”. In this way, every training re- train “procedures for reporting unsafe conditions”. quirement in Subchapter M can be looked at as an

On the surface, this provision works together with opportunity to build a positive culture, not just to 140.210 to ensure that all unsafe conditions are be convey information. reported to the master, and is therefore simple and logical. But examined a little more thoughtfully, it Blended Learning empowers all crew members and reinforces the real- Of particular note, section 140.420 contains a very ity that everyone on board holds both individual and short statement speci? cally allowing alternative collective responsibility for safe operations. It is a forms of instruction. This is noteworthy because it principle of Bridge Resource Management (BRM) is one of the few statements in the regulations which that all employees need to voice their concerns loud- speak to the how of training as opposed to only the ly and clearly – a standard that is credited for great what.

advances in safety. The same principle applies on the More importantly, it is noteworthy because the al- deck or anywhere aboard. ternative form of instruction speci? cally mentioned

Thus, in training crewmembers on how to report (though not by name) is blended learning. Earlier in 22 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • NOVEMBER 2016

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