Rich people can be heroes too. In a time when the federal government’s support for the environment is contracting, let’s recognize some wealthy people who admirably step up to their responsibilities as crew members of Spaceship Earth. Continue reading
Target audience:
Crews of Offshore installations, duty holders, owners and operators of offshore vessels, windfarm operators, principal contractors, contractors.
The Issue
The Health & Safety Executive UK has identified a rise in the number of incidents of attendant ships colliding with offshore oil and gas and renewable energy structures. Failure of navigational watch processes and systems is resulting in collisions or risk of collisions.
Incidents are occurring because:
Duty holders and vessel operators should have in place processes and systems, as part of a wider safe system of work, to ensure that, during connected activities, vessels are operated in a way that ensures, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of people on nearby installations.
The following case Histories all involve a vessel engaged in an operation in connection with an offshore installation, or an activity connected with an offshore windfarm, within the last five years.
Loss of situational awareness
Case History1. A platform supply vessel (PSV) was requested to enter the 500m zone of a fixed installation. The Chief Officer and a watchkeeping officer were on the bridge. Pre-entry checklists were completed, and the Chief Officer began manoeuvring the vessel towards the 500m zone. The Chief Officer allowed the speed of the vessel to increase above the normal rate and the watchkeeping officer was engaged in other tasks. The Chief Officer made attempts to control the movement of the vessel, during which time it struck the leg of the installation.
Failure to keep a proper lookout
Case History 2. A multi-role emergency response and rescue vessel (ERRV) was standing-by outside the 500m zone of a jack-up drilling installation. The Master had just handed over to the Officer of the Watch (OOW). It was dark, the weather was good, and there was a lookout on the bridge. The OOW became engaged in non-navigational tasks, including writing minutes to a recent meeting and testing the bridge radios. The lookout asked the OOW if he could use the bridge computer and was given permission to do so. Neither the OOW nor the lookout noticed that a change in environmental conditions meant the vessel was now drifting towards the jack-up. A PSV was alongside the jack-up and raised concern that the ERRV had entered the 500m zone and was on a collision course with the installation. The jack-up control room attempted to call the ERRV and instructed them to leave the zone. The ERRV collided with one of the legs of the jack-up.
Distracted by administrative tasks
Case History 3. A PSV was standing by a jack-up drilling installation. It was daytime, the weather was good and there was a single OOW on the bridge. The vessel was configured in ‘green dynamic positioning’ (DP) meaning the DP system was controlling surge but not sway. The OOW began some administrative tasks on the bridge computer but kept an eye on the installation through the bridge front window, knowing that if he kept the installation ahead of the vessel, the ‘green DP’ configuration meant he would not drift towards it. The view from the OOW’s position at the bridge computer out the side window was blocked by the bridge toilet and ships funnel. The OOW was therefore unaware that the vessel was drifting sideways towards a neighbouring fixed installation. The PSV drifted inside the 500m safety zone and collided with the leg of the installation.
Failure to assess environmental conditions
Case History 4. A PSV was engaged in cargo operations alongside a mobile offshore drilling installation. It was dark, weather conditions were marginal, and the vessel was in a drift-on position with the bow into the wind. The Master was in control of the DP system and a watchkeeping officer was supporting him on the bridge. The crane operator on the installation asked if the vessel could change heading to enable access to cargo outside the reach of the crane. The Master pulled away from the installation a short distance and changed the vessel heading. This action resulted in the DP system being unable to maintain position and the vessel drifted towards and collided with the drilling installation.
Lack of communication between bridge team
Case History 5. A windfarm service operation vessel (SOV) was transiting through the windfarm. It was daylight, weather was good, the vessel was in DP mode and there was an OOW and Dynamic Positioning Officer (DPO) on the bridge. The DPO had control of the vessel and was changing heading to pass a wind turbine. The OOW was engaged in a non-navigational task. The change of heading resulted in the vessel being on a collision course with a wind turbine. The Master, who had gone to the bridge for another purpose, noticed the developing situation and took control of the vessel, but was unable to prevent collision with the wind turbine.
Action required
Vessel operators and duty holders responsible for marine activities connected with offshore oil and gas installations and windfarms should review operating procedures and take actions relevant to your operation.
Provide clear watchkeeping instructions
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards for keeping a navigational watch require a proper lookout to be always maintained.
The lookout must be able to give full attention to the keeping of a proper lookout and no other duties shall be undertaken or assigned which could interfere with that task. This always applies the vessel is engaged in a connected activity, which includes when the vessel is outside the 500m metre zone on standby for the next operation and standing by or transiting through a windfarm. Watchkeeping arrangements during these times should be reviewed against IMO standards and the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea to ensure all the recommended principles when keeping a navigational watch are applied.
Ensure that procedures and instructions regarding watchkeeping when engaged in a connected activity are clear and unambiguous and include those periods when the vessel is on standby or transiting through a windfarm.
Review bridge resource management
Vessel operators should review your bridge resource management (BRM) processes. Check the effectiveness of bridge teamwork and communication arrangements (including how the culture of challenging actions and omissions by any member of the bridge team is promoted). Review the design, arrangement and use of bridge equipment (including electronic aids, automated functions and dynamic positioning (DP) systems), and the effectiveness of BRM training. BRM training is a behavioural tool which assists with the development of teamwork, and as such adds to existing competency assurance programs that aim to establish and maintain individual competency.
Review the use of bridge alarms
All cargo ships of 150GT or more are required have a Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS) to monitor bridge activity and automatically alert the master if for any reason the OOW becomes incapacitated. IMO have set performance standards for BNWAS, which include an automatic function, where the BNWAS will only be operational when a ship heading, or track control is activated and inhibited at other times. However, Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention, Chapter V, Regulation 19 requires BNWAS to be ON and operating whenever a vessel is underway at sea.
Duty holders and vessel operators should review instructions regarding the use of BNWAS to ensure the system is always operational whenever the vessel is engaged in a connected activity or standing by an installation.
BNWAS alarms can be set to between 3- and 12-minute intervals. Operators and duty holders should consider the proximity of attendant vessels to installations and other structures and select the most appropriate interval between alarms, considering the distance a vessel may drift in the intervening period.
Consider implementing new and emergent technologies, such as proximity warnings which are audible to persons on the bridge when the vessel approaches an installation or structure. These systems are already installed on vessels in some windfarms.
Monitor attendant vessels
Duty holders should check the arrangements for monitoring the movements of attendant vessels. Check that these arrangements would detect an attendant vessel making an unplanned approach to the installation.
Consider using an ERRV to monitor attendant vessels as well as errant or passing vessels, or automated systems such as AIS tracking, guard zones and automated alerts, or a combination of both.
If a ERRV is used to monitor attendant vessels, this duty must be understood by the master and officers on the ERRV, and sufficient resources provided to enable them to undertake that duty. Any equipment provided in addition to the ship’s equipment should be adequate for the task and visible from the watchkeeper’s position.
If using automated tracking and alerting systems, duty holders should test the effectiveness of the system at appropriate intervals and with a sufficient degree of robustness to demonstrate the system will provide the necessary alerts at an appropriate range and Closest Point of Approach (CPA).
Position vessels on prolonged periods of standby, such as when waiting on weather, at a distance from the installation so that any unplanned movement towards the it is clearly discernible to observers and gives sufficient time to alert the attendant vessel to take remedial action.
Consider sailing audits for marine assurance
In all the cases described in this safety notice, the duty holders chartering the vessels had in place a marine assurance process to verify the operational capability of the vessel and competence of the crew. The incidents highlight that a shore-based assurance process, where the vessel is visited while in port, may not be adequate to identify watchkeeping and bridge resource management bad practice. These may only become apparent when the vessel is operating. Duty holders should therefore consider the benefits of sailing audits where a suitable qualified and experienced assessor can identify bad practice and where necessary coach good practice.
Legal Framework
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2013 (AOGBO) applies sections 1 to 59 and 80 to 82 of the Health and Safety at Work (etc.) Act 1974 (HSWA) beyond the mainland of Great Britain to specified offshore areas and work activities, including activities in connection with an offshore installations, whether carried out from the installation itself, or in or from a vessel, other than a vessel being used as a standby vessel.
Section 3 of HSWA places a duty on employers to conduct their undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that other persons who may be affected by that undertaking are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. For attendant vessels, this means the vessel should be operated in a way that reduces, so far as is reasonably practicable, the risk of collision with an installation. HSE’s expectation is that potential human failures should be addressed by the risk management systems implemented to meet this duty. Measures should be taken to address the factors that increase the likelihood of human failures (Performance Influencing Factors) and, to detect and correct these before adverse consequences occur. This is consistent with the requirements of international maritime conventions – notably SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention Chapter V, Regulation 15.
Regulation 8 of Offshore Installation and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995 places a duty on ships masters and every other person involved in a connected activity to cooperate with the Offshore Installation manager so far as is necessary to enable the OIM to comply with relevant statutory provisions. The scope of regulation 8 is very wide and includes operators, owners, employers, employees, managers and people in charge of visiting vessels.
This legislation applies without prejudice to maritime legislation and the Masters own statutory duties.
What does it mean to live a good life? For centuries, philosophers, scientists and people of different cultures have tried to answer this question. Each tradition has a different take, but all agree: The good life is more than just feeling good − it’s about becoming whole.
More recently, researchers have focused on the idea of flourishing, not simply as happiness or success, but as a multidimensional state of well-being that involves positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment − an idea that traces back to Aristotle’s concept of “eudaimonia” but has been redefined within the well-being science literature.
We are a group of psychological scientists, social scientists and epidemiologists who are all contributors to an international collaboration called the Global Flourishing Study. The goal of the project is simple: to find patterns of human flourishing across cultures.
Do people in some countries thrive more than others? What makes the biggest difference in a person’s well-being? Are there things people can do to improve their own lives? Understanding these trends over time can help shape policies and programs that improve global human flourishing.
What does the flourishing study focus on?The Global Flourishing Study is a five-year annual survey of over 200,000 participants from 22 countries, using nationally representative sampling to understand health and well-being. Our team includes more than 40 researchers across different disciplines, cultures and institutions.
With help from Gallup Inc., we asked people about their lives, their happiness, their health, their childhood experiences, and how they feel about their financial situation.
The study looks at six dimensions of a flourishing life:
We tried to quantify how participants are doing on each of these dimensions using a scale from 0 to 10. In addition to using the Secure Flourish measure from Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program, we included additional questions to probe other factors that influence how much someone is flourishing.
For example, we assessed well-being through questions about optimism, peace and balance in life. We measured health by asking about pain, depression and exercise. We measured relationships through questions about trust, loneliness and support.
Our first wave of results reveals that some countries and groups of people are doing better than others.
We were surprised that in many countries young people are not doing as well as older adults. Earlier studies had suggested well-being follows a U-shape over the course of a lifespan, with the lowest point in middle age. Our new results imply that younger adults today face growing mental health challenges, financial insecurity and a loss of meaning that are disrupting the traditional U-shaped curve of well-being.
Married people usually reported more support, better relationships and more meaning in life.
People who were working – either for themselves or someone else – also tended to feel more secure and happy than people who were seeking jobs.
People who go to religious services once a week or more typically reported higher scores in all areas of flourishing – particularly happiness, meaning and relationships. This finding was true in almost every country, even very secular ones such as Sweden.
It seems that religious communities offer what psychologists of religion call the four B’s: belonging, in the form of social support; bonding, in the form of spiritual connection; behaving, in the cultivation of character and virtue through the practices and norms taught within religious communities; and believing, in the form of embracing hope, forgiveness and shared spiritual convictions.
But some people who attend religious services also report more pain or suffering. This correlation may be because religious communities often provide support during hard times, and frequent attendees may be more attentive to or more likely to experience pain, grief or illness.
Your early years shape how you do later in life. But even if life started off as challenging, it doesn’t have to stay that way. Some people who had difficult childhoods, having experienced abuse or poverty, still found meaning and purpose later as adults. In some countries, including the U.S. and Argentina, hardship in childhood seemed to build resilience and purpose in adulthood.
Globally, men and women report similar levels of flourishing. But in some countries there are big differences. For example, women in Japan report higher scores than men, while in Brazil, men report doing better than women.
Some countries are doing better than others when it comes to flourishing.
Indonesia is thriving. People there scored high in many areas, including meaning, purpose, relationships and character. Indonesia is one of the highest-scoring countries in most of the indicators in the whole study.
Mexico and the Philippines also show strong results. Even though these countries have less money than some others, people report strong family ties, spiritual lives and community support.
Japan and Turkey report lower scores. Japan has a strong economy, but people there report lower happiness and weaker social connections. Long work hours and stress may be part of the reason. In Turkey, political and financial challenges may be hurting people’s sense of trust and security.
One surprising result is that richer countries, including the United States and Sweden, are not flourishing as well as some others. They do well on financial stability but score lower in meaning and relationships. Having more money doesn’t always mean people are doing better in life.
In fact, countries with higher income often report lower levels of meaning and purpose. Meanwhile, countries with higher fertility rates often report more meaning in life. These findings show that there can be a trade-off. Economic progress might improve some things but weaken others.
The Global Flourishing Study is helping us see that people all over the world want many of the same basic things: to be happy, healthy, connected and safe. But different countries reach those goals in different ways. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to flourishing. What it means to flourish can look different from place to place and from one person to another.
One challenge with the Global Flourishing Study is that it uses the same set of questions in all 22 countries. This method, known as an etic approach, helps us compare results across cultures. But it can miss the nuance and local meanings of flourishing. What brings happiness or purpose in one country or context might not mean the same thing in another.
We consider this study to be a starting point. It opens the door for more emic studies – research that uses questions and ideas that fit the values, language and everyday life of specific cultures and societies. Researchers can build on this study’s findings to expand how we understand and measure flourishing around the world.
(C) The Conversation
Bio:
Victor Counted, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he also leads the Christian Flourishing Science Lab as Director. Counted is a Faculty Affiliate of Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program and a Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion. He has a PhD in Health Psychology from Western Sydney University, Australia, and a second PhD in Psychology of Religion from the University of Groningen, Netherlands. He serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology and Editor of Springer’s Religion, Spirituality, and Health: A Social Scientific Approach book series. Counted has authored over 80 peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly publications that examines how psychological processes—particularly those related to social, spiritual, environmental, and neurological dimensions—shape human flourishing across cultures. His work explores how these dimensions interact to support, sustain, and strengthen health and well-being and how disruptions to these processes can lead to stressors or challenges that require adaptive responses. He also utilizes a unique integrative flourishing framework that integrates psychological science and practice with cross-cultural healthcare practices to develop evidence-based and theoretically-driven research interventions that promote health and well-being for individuals and communities. You can learn more about his 4-stage framework of the psychology of human flourishing on his page: https://vcounted.com/research/
Byron Johnson is Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University and is the founding director of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR). Johnson is a faculty affiliate of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, and is co-executive director of the Center for Faith and the Common Good as well as Visiting Distinguished Professor in the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. In 2016, he co-founded the Religious Freedom Institute, based in Washington, DC.
Tyler J. VanderWeele, Ph.D., is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director of the Human Flourishing Program and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Religion and Spirituality at Harvard University. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University in mathematics, philosophy, theology, finance, and biostatistics. His methodological research is focused on theory and methods for distinguishing between association and causation in the biomedical and social sciences and, more recently, on psychosocial measurement theory. His empirical research spans psychiatric and social epidemiology; the science of happiness and flourishing; and the study of religion and health. He is the recipient of the 2017 Presidents’ Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS). He has published over four hundred papers in peer-reviewed journals; is author of the books Explanation in Causal Inference (2015), Modern Epidemiology (2021), and Measuring Well-Being (2021); and he also writes a monthly blog posting on topics related to human flourishing for Psychology Today.
Target audienceCrews of Offshore installations, duty holders, owners and operators of offshore vessels, windfarm operators, principal contractors, contractors.
The Issue
The Health & Safety Executive UK has identified a rise in the number of incidents of attendant ships colliding with offshore oil and gas and renewable energy structures. Failure of navigational watch processes and systems is resulting in collisions or risk of collisions. Continue reading
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