Part 2: Creating a Safety Culture at Your Marina – Recognizing Hazards and Planning Action Steps

Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a three-part series about creating a safety culture at your marina. The third article, to be published in the September issue of Marina Dock Age, will explore how to address site flaws through team meetings and organize action steps.

When is the right time to create a culture of safety at your marina? The time is always right to start building upon the safety culture embedded in your marina operations. Developing or improving a culture of safety and compliance targeted toward preventing marina team and customer injuries shows everyone on your property that you care about their well-being.

The first part of this series encouraged marina operators to develop a property strategy for safety and compliance and figure out who will be the team leader. This article covers the next step, which is to recognize hazard exposures and make a list to memorialize and plan action steps.

What is a Site Safety Inspection?
A site safety inspection is to identify potential safety and health hazards and recommend corrective actions to improve safety and health conditions at the worksite.

To be effective, site safety inspections must be conducted regularly and documented in a written report. Site safety inspections should also be a training tool and tie back to standards of safety.

As marina site safety becomes an increasingly important topic of discussion, more emphasis is being placed on the importance of regular safety inspections. Safety inspections are critical to preventing accidents because they help identify potential hazards before they become a problem.

Inspections also help ensure that all workers on a marina site are following safety protocols and procedures. By identifying potential hazards and ensuring that all workers are following safety procedures, marina site safety inspection can play a vital role in preventing accidents.

Your safety captains are responsible for ensuring that regular safety inspections are conducted and that any hazards are addressed promptly.

The Benefits of Inspections

Regular site safety inspections are critical for preventing accidents – period. Identify potential hazards before they become a problem. Some of the benefits of regular safety inspections include:

• Show teams and customers that you care for their well-being and safety.
  Reduced risk of accidents. By identifying potential hazards before they become a problem, inspectors can help reduce the risk of accidents on marina sites.
• Improved worker safety. By addressing potential hazards before they become a problem, inspectors can help improve worker safety on marina sites.
• Reduced costs. By preventing accidents, regular safety inspections can help reduce the costs associated with marina site accidents.
• Team training. Build your inspection reporting and tie to “standards of operation.” These can be OSHA, CALOSHA, NFPA, NEC, ACOE, EPA or other standards regulations as examples.

Understanding the Risks
As with any high-risk environment, it’s important to understand and fully assess the risks at boat yards. Water and changing weather, spills, slippery surfaces, the use of electricity and the movement of vehicles all contribute to the creation of potentially dangerous conditions.

Slips, trips and falls are all too common and are the leading cause of non-fatal accidents in marina workplaces, accounting for 32% of accidents in 2022/23 figures. A slip at a marina has the potential to have devastating results, and falling into the water around boats can result in serious injury or even death.

It’s important walking routes are not cluttered. Maintaining clear pathways with regular cleaning and maintenance of walking surfaces is important in reducing trip hazards. Additionally, clear signage and designated walkways should be used to guide pedestrians away from hazardous areas, reducing the likelihood of accidents.

As work at the marina takes place throughout the day or night, visibility can also be an issue. Poor lighting and adverse weather conditions dramatically reduce the viewing range, creating an extra layer of risk, particularly around water. It’s important to make sure additional lighting is available after dark and when environmental factors such as fog and adverse weather affect visuals.

Electrical hazards pose a significant threat both to workers and to members of the public in marinas and marina settings.  Any area where electric devices can be splashed or fully submerged by water poses an obvious risk. An incident in the United States saw a 55-year-old marina worker suffer a fatal electrocution while conducting routine maintenance on power cables at the marina. It is also possible for stray electrical currents to be present in the water, meaning a fall from the water’s edge could result in devastating consequences.

Vehicles and equipment regularly move around marinas, while cranes, forklifts and other heavy equipment are often used close to customers, children and pets. Special consideration needs to be applied to members of the public. Workers are familiar with marina hazards and are aware of the dangers, but members of the public lack the training and situational awareness to fully appreciate the risks around them. Without this understanding, it is all too easy to inadvertently walk into a potentially dangerous situation.

It is important to have regular site safety inspections to help prevent accidents. But how often should these inspections be done? Set the agenda at your marina that makes you aware and compliant. At a minimum, follow OSHA’s “General Safety and Health Provisions (29 CFR 1926.20),” which cover job site inspections. It states that “Such programs shall provide for frequent and regular inspections of the job sites, materials and equipment to be made by competent persons designated by the employers.”

If a violation is found during a site safety inspection, the marina safety captain will work with the site manager to develop a corrective action plan. This plan will outline the steps that need to be taken to correct the violation and prevent future accidents. The site manager will be responsible for implementing the corrective action plan and ensuring that all employees are trained in the new procedures.

In conclusion, regular site safety inspections are essential for the prevention of accidents and ensuring a safe work environment. Regular inspections can identify potential hazards before they become an issue, allowing employers to address any risks quickly. By prioritizing workplace safety, employers can not only guarantee their staff’s well-being but also ensure business continuity and protect their organization from costly liabilities.