(HOUSTON) — Shell Shipping & Maritime, Americas recently held its sixth annual Goal Zero Hero of the Year awards dinner celebrating 41 unique safety interventions documented during Shell-chartered marine operations in 2017.
The Goal Zero Hero dinner was held at Houston’s Downtown Aquarium and attended by over 150 Shell and industry representatives who came together to recognize crewmembers for their initiative and courage to take the necessary actions to recognize and stop unsafe work, demonstrating their commitment to a zero-incident industry.
While all 41 award recipients were previously recognized as Goal Zero Heroes following the actions they took, the annual event presents an opportunity to formally recognize the top 12 interventions in front of their industry peers, as voted on by Shell Shipping and Maritime, Americas’ leadership.
“Your actions matter more than you realize,” said Tim Downs, general manager, Shipping & Maritime, Americas as he addressed the award winners. “Safety starts and finishes with you. The Goal Zero Hero initiative is taking hold through you and those like you who truly understand the importance of safety and demonstrate the initiative to take the extra step and say, ‘No, you can’t do that – it’s not safe.’”
Since the Shipping & Maritime, Americas’ Goal Zero Hero program was implemented in 2012, there has been a steady increase in the number of interventions documented and awards presented. To date, there have been 153 interventions and awards presented to industry members. The increasing trend of interventions indicates a strong focus on safety as a mission and empowering everyone involved in any maritime evolution to own the responsibility to continually improve and, if necessary, take action to intervene, even if it means stopping work, to ensure the safety of all.
Numerous companies were recognized at the event for their prudent use of Stop Work Authority in 2017 including Buffalo Marine Service, Reinauer Transportation Co., Settoon Towing Co., Florida Marine Transport, LeBeouf Brothers Towing, Vance Brothers Co., Harvey Gulf International, Martin Marine, Higman, Marine Service, Kirby Offshore Marine, Enterprise Marine Services, Kirby Inland Marine and Crowley Petroleum Services.
The night was capped off by the presentation of the 2017 Goal Zero Hero of the Year trophy to tankerman Jake Hernandez of M/V Capt. Rodney Adams, Blessey Marine Services Inc. based in Harahan, La.
On June 13, 2017, Shell Trading chartered M/V Capt. Rodney Adams with two loaded barges was preparing to discharge at a third-party terminal. During the pre-transfer inspection, the terminal proposed using a dock cargo transfer hose that Hernandez had previously rejected on a past trip to the same terminal. The hose had visible areas where it appeared to be failing. Using his stop work authority again, Hernandez informed the dock operator that he would not accept this hose for use in the planned transfer. With no other hose option available, Hernandez refused to use the proposed hose, and after notifying their Blessey Marine port captain, M/V Capt. Rodney Adams got underway and departed the third-party terminal. The next day, the third-party terminal replaced the cargo hose and M/V Capt. Rodney Adams returned to the same dock and completed discharge without incident. This intervention by Hernandez to identify and refuse to use unsafe equipment helped prevent a highly predictable environmental effect during Shell-chartered marine operations. Shell commends Hernandez, M/V Capt. Rodney Adams and Blessey Marine Services for their outstanding safety leadership.
