As part of our ongoing goal to move from HESS compliance to commitment our Entertainment teams from both Cunard and P&O Cruises have been holding monthly work group meetings with some great results already!
The work group looks at near misses, ship board incidents, current trends, audit reports and risk assessments to see what lessons can be learned. The aim for these meetings is to make a positive change and improve our ship and shore HESS culture. It’s a forum where questions, thoughts or queries are raised and discussed with the aim of improving our overall HESS performance.
While being attended by members of both the Entertainment and Safety teams from Carnival House, in order to see a wider picture, a different ship board representative is invited each month to attend in order to get feedback from the fleet an make sure we’re all joined up.
This has brought a positive impact both on board and shore side including:
- Reducing the use of the theatres and backstage areas as a short cut to access crew areas.
- A policy is now in place governing safety and safeguarding with work experience students in Carnival UK facilities.
- Vastly improving the quality of the Ventura theatre safety communications system (with more ships planned in the near future).
- Regular inspections and improvements to the Unit 6 Entertainments Storage unit and The Academy rehearsal facility.
- Guidance for Guest Entertainers who use audience members as part of their show.
- Improvements to the Workplace Risk Assessment strategy, particularly when bringing new production shows onto the ships.
It’s important to remember Near Miss Forms should never be thought of as negative strikes, but are an important tool in further improving or HESS culture so please keep completing the form so we can learn, improve and grow – problems can’t be fixed unless we know about them!
If you have any questions, suggestions or would like further information, please email chris.knowles@carnivalukgroup.com from Cunard GE or elinor.bowes@carnivalukgroup.com from Fleet Safety.