Harness The Power of Habit - NEW Webinar: Jan 7 at 2:00 pm EST

Start your new year off on the right foot and join AWO for a webinar hosted by Sharon Lipinski, the Habit Superhero. Sharon will lead a conversation on how to leverage cutting-edge neural science to create your New Year's Resolution and ensure it sticks. Whether your goal is exercising, eating healthier, getting organized, or being more productive, you'll learn a 3-step system for reliably changing your behavior. This session isn't just theory - you'll use these strategies to create a new habit on the spot! If you want to understand why you do what you do and how to change it, sign up today to secure your spot. To register, please navigate to the AWO events page or contact Caitlin Clark. For more information about this topic, contact Michael Breslin.

Powering the Future: Sustainable Solutions for Maritime Operations - NEW Webinar Series

AWO's Winter Sustainability Webinar series kicked off earlier this month with an engaging discussion about building a marine transportation-focused ESG plan. Led by AWO member GHD, the webinar featured insights from sustainability program managers from American Commercial Barge Line and McAllister Towing. A recording and presentation materials are available on the AWO Resources page for members.

 

In January, AWO is hosting two more sustainability-focused webinars. The first will explore fuel and data measurements to optimize efficiency and the second will focus on how alternative fuels and batteries will work together to power the next generation of vessels. Sign up today and invite your colleagues to join us for these educational and insightful webinars!

Register today through your member portal and contact Caitlin Clark with questions about registration.

 

 

AWO Resources Library: NEW Safety Resources Available

 

NEAR MISS: Rigging Pallet Fire

A vessel that was running slow for several days blew out the carbon built up in its stacks. The soot contained some sparks, which landed on a pallet on the deck near the stacks and ignited a small smoldering fire on the wooden pallet. The fire was put out using a fire extinguisher. Full details: AWO Resources - Rigging Pallet Fire

 

NEAR MISS: Smoking on Benzene Barges

A crew was moving three benzene barges from a fleet to a linehaul vessel and were standing on the head of the barges, smoking cigarettes as they rode out to put the barges in tow. When the linehaul crew saw them smoking, they immediately asked them to put the cigarettes out. Full details: AWO Resources - Smoking on Benzene Barges

 

AWO needs your near misses to prevent incidents. It is easy to submit by using the AWO High Value Near Miss Form or contacting safety@americanwaterways.com. All identifying details are removed from submitted events. For more information, contact Michael Breslin.

Coast Guard Releases New LNM/LL Application

As reported in the AWO Letter, the U.S. Coast Guard has released its new GIS-based Local Notice to Mariners and Light List application. The new application will replace the historical weekly notices and provide vital navigation safety information with more frequent updates, as often as every 15 minutes. You can access the new app here, and a user guide here.

 

More information, including carriage requirements, brief instructions for using the app, and transition timelines can be found here. Please reach out to Liam Morcroft with any questions or concerns.

AWO's Moveable Bridge Quality Action Team Needs Your Input!

AWO's Moveable Bridge Quality Action Team is working with the Coast Guard to prevent bridge incidents by investigating and documenting issues encountered by mariners when calling or transiting moveable bridges. We will present our findings to the Coast Guard in January. Please submit recent bridge events such as late bridge openings, communication issues, inoperable lights, and other issues that affect safe navigation using the AWO Bridge Event Recording Form or by email to bridges@americanwaterways.com.  To learn more about this effort, please get in touch with Liam Morcroft.

OSHA Publishes Injury Data

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published the Work-Related Injury and Illness Summary, a first-of-its-kind report that incorporates data collected through OSHA's new injury tracking application, which collects 2023 injury, illness, and fatality data for companies with 100 or more employees. The report includes data from 385,448 companies and lists sectors in order from least to most incidents: Healthcare, Transportation/ Warehousing, Retail trade, Manufacturing, and Construction.

 

Of the 883,372 cases, there were 276 deaths, 584,474 days away or transferred, and 298,622 recordable injuries. Most of the injured were men with 1 to 5 years of experience at companies with 250 or more workers.

American Waterways HERO Award - Nominate Your Crew for Heroic Acts

Our mariners work tirelessly to keep commerce moving and protect our waterways. Despite being the safest mode of freight transport, emergencies still occur. In these critical moments, crews demonstrate outstanding commitment to safety through their first response and rescue efforts.

 

The American Waterways Honor & Excellence in Rescue Operations (HERO) Award honors member company employees for their bravery, skill, and selflessness during emergencies on our waterways. Qualifying acts include rescuing mariners, responding to medical emergencies, recovering overboard individuals, and other heroic actions.

 

To nominate your crew's efforts, fill out this simple form at https://www.americanwaterways.com/hero-award.

 

Awardees are recognized at each Winter and Summer Safety Committee Meeting, where they are invited to bring their families to join us in person to receive their awards, which include a certificate for each vessel involved, a HERO Award Coin for each mariner, and a complimentary one-year marine license and liability insurance policy offered by 360 Coverage Pros & Berkley Offshore.

 

Congratulations to this month's recipients of the American Waterways HERO Award!

 

The next HERO Award Ceremony will occur at the AWO Winter Safety and Combined Regions Meeting in Nashville, TN, on February 19-20, 2025. Details and agenda are posted on the AWO Events webpage. For more information, contact Michael Breslin.

Crowley Vessels Awarded for Environmental Achievements

The Chamber of Shipping of America recently honored 101 Crowley-operated vessels with

Environmental Achievement Awards. The award recognizes vessels and their crews for maintaining safe environmental operations, remaining free from spills, citations, and involvement in other pollution incidents.

 

Tugboats, tank vessels, and containerships were among the 101 vessels awarded, representing 864 cumulative years of environmentally safe vessel operations. Captain Boren Chambers, director of fleet operations at Crowley Shipping, said, "Sustainability and safety are at the heart of everything we do at Crowley, and we're honored to be recognized yet again for our commitment."

Coast Guard Issues Safety Alert

The U.S. Coast Guard recently published a new safety alert about the importance of knowing how to operate auxiliary engines and generators. This Safety Alert was issued following a Coast Guard investigation of an incident where a vessel lost primary power, and the crew could not start backup generators. An investigation determined that the crew was not adequately trained to restart main generators or switch to backups after a power loss. The result was an extended period of power loss on the vessel during a vessel emergency. Visit the link to learn more:

Coast Guard Shares Tips for Staying Resilient Through the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be both joyous and hectic. To maintain your well-being, focus on setting realistic expectations and prioritizing meaningful connections rather than performing or attempting to meet unattainable ideals. The Coast Guard shared tips with their personnel on how to manage holiday stress and stay resilient:

Following these tips can help turn the holiday season from a stressful event into a time of renewal and personal growth.

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Safety Alert

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has observed a trend of safety incidents related to the improper use of fall protection during rope access work.  Recent incidents revealed serious injuries resulting from incorrect rigging of fall protection and working at unsafe angles. Workers have fallen due to self-retracting lanyards (SRL) not functioning as intended and poor positioning relative to anchor points. Proper training, equipment checks, correct usage angles, and adherence to established safety procedures are crucial to preventing severe injuries.

 

Key Takeaways:

2024 AWO Safety in Review

2024 was a productive year for AWO's Safety and Sustainability Department. The work of the Safety Leadership Advisory Panel and Subcommittees produced a wealth of resources for AWO members, and throughout the year, this newsletter captured the stories. Notable safety achievements in 2024 include:

And much more! Contact safety@americanwaterways.com or visit your member dashboard to learn about active AWO Subcommittees and join your peers in continuously improving waterways safety in 2025!

Safety Focus 2024

Thank you to our members and partners who shared their experience and expertise in our 2024 Safety Focus series. If you would like to participate in our Safety Focus in 2025 or nominate a co-worker or friend, please contact safety@americanwaterways.com.