Action plan to respond to the safety investigation report of CCG involvement into the rollover of a CCGA vessel following a rigid hull inflatable operational training exercise on 04 November 2007

Sea Urchin Action Plan

• The Report Overview
• Organizing the work to respond to the recommendations
  • Response to Recommendation (A)
  • Response to Recommendation (B - training)
  • Response to Recommendation (B - CCG SSMS)
  • Response to Recommendation (C)
• Follow-Up

The Report Overview

The safety investigation into the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) involvement with the rollover of the CCGA vessel Sea Urchin has a number of comments and concerns which led to three report recommendations. The recommendations are below, with the CCG’s action plan to address these recommendations on the following pages.

Recommendations

Section 4.3 Recommendations:

1. The contribution agreement states “The National Auxiliary works closely with the Minister and other stakeholders on matters of common interest”. While there are periodic meetings between CCGA and the CCG SAR program, the CCG Fleet is not systematically involved. It is recommended that CCG Fleet be invited to such meetings to provide operational expertise and share lessons learned and best practices in areas of SAR operations including Personal Protective Equipment (Section 2.4) and other safety aspects such as audits and inspections (Section 2.1.3), as well as safety investigations. The concerns relating to fishing vessel safety as mentioned in Section 4.2 should also be discussed at this forum. (Edit - emphasis added.)
2. To address the findings identified in Section 2.2 of the report, a governance structure for the RHIOT and SCT (small craft training) programs should be established under the CCG Fleet Directorate to ensure monitoring of consistency in the delivery of the program (Section 4.2.2). The RHIOT program is now under the responsibility of the Fleet Directorate, the same directorate responsible for the CCG Safety and Security Management System (SSMS). It is recommended that the RHIOT program be treated the same way a CCG Station is under the CCG SSMS which would provide an accountability framework for the planning, conduct, maintenance and compliance of the program. (Edit - emphasis added.) This structure would also ensure the development of site-specific work instructions to capture all aspects of exercises and training at the pre-planning stages and include development of contingency plans for incidents of this kind including equipment, communications, call-outs, notification of Next of Kin, etc... This practice is already is already in place in one of the regions.
3. The pictures and video clips captured throughout the exercises were most useful to this investigation serving as objective evidence for the development of the report. Such information whether it is captured during exercises or a real operation, can also be used for training purposes. It is recommended that this best practice of using recording devices (video and/or audio) be widely communicated within CCG (Section 3.0). (Edit - emphasis added.) Considerations should also be given to the development of a policy on usage of recording devices.

Organizing the work to respond to the recommendations

The extracts above from the report indicate action is required in a number of areas. Some of which are the responsibility of CCG Fleet Operational Support, some the responsibility of CCG Fleet Safety and Security, some for CCG Maritime Services which include the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary. The action plan below indicates the lead and support for each recommendation.

Response to Recommendation (A)

Lead: Maritime Services and Fleet.

Objective: To reduce risks to Auxiliarists during operations with and for the Canadian Coast Guard through:

1. the provision of Fleet operational expertise to the CCG Auxiliary. Maritime Services will discuss the report with the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary National Council with a view to including a Fleet member on national joint CCG-CCGA meetings when discussing operations;
2. the inclusion of a CCGA representative as a member of Fleet national small craft meetings and working groups to ensure greater access of CCGA to Fleet and CCG operational expertise in small craft operations;
3. the inclusion of a Fleet member on each CCGA regional operations committee, and be invited to any CCGA regional management meeting, where small craft and their related issues are discussed for greater Fleet-CCGA enhanced interoperability for SAR exercises and operations; and,
4. discussions with CCGA to form a CCG-CCGA national operations committee with appropriate partners, and establish fishing vessel safety as a standing item on this committee's agenda to ensure that the CCGA benefits and reduces risks through greater dissemination on CCGA fishing vessel operational safety.

Timeline: Maritime Services to implement this action item before June 2009.

Response to Recommendation (B - Training)

Lead: Fleet

Objective: To ensure more effective national CCG small craft operations and training oversight, CCG will build upon its very significant history and expertise with small craft and apply that experience more consistently across the Coast Guard. The Canadian Coast Guard Fleet Operational Support will:

1. control and issue national training standards for Small Vessel Operator Proficiency Training and for Rigid Hull Inflatable Operators’ Training;
2. institute a national small craft training Curriculum Advisory Group to advise on the currency and content of the small craft training standards and shall include the CCG Auxiliary and CCG College as members in the Group; and,
3. develop an option for discussion at the June 2009 CCG Management Board and amendment to the standard Regional Fleet Management Organization for small craft issues including training and this amendment will be submitted to the Canadian Coast Guard Management Board in November 2009.

Timeline: Fleet Operational Support to complete these actions as follows:

1. before June 2009;
2. before July 2009; and,
3. before November 2009.

Response to Recommendation (B - CCG SSMS)

Lead: Fleet

Objective: CCG will enhance its safety and security practices by establishing a more robust documentation culture. Small craft training will be enhanced by better safety audits, better planning, and better recording keeping through the:

1. inclusion auditing small craft training in CCG’s Safety and Security Management System (SSMS) plan. The Canadian Coast Guard Fleet Safety and Security shall work with Fleet Operational Support to include safety audits of small craft training to commence in the 2009-2010 fiscal year; and,
2. preparation of contingency planning guidance for small craft training, exercises and operations.

Timeline: The 2009-2010 Safety Management System audit plan to be amended to include small craft before July 2009. Contingency planning guidance is to be completed and disseminated before September 2009.

Response to Recommendation (C)

Lead: Fleet

Objective: CCG will enhance its safety and security practices by establishing a more robust documentation culture. Small craft training and Fleet operations will be enhanced by better recording keeping through:

1. recording of live training and exercises and reviewing these recordings to learn from, to correct mistakes with a goal to improve future operations; and,
2. the development of a CCG Fleet Circular for dissemination to Canadian Coast Guard, CCG Auxiliary and DFO small craft operators, that audiovisual recording and reviewing of such records of small training exercises are a best practice.

Timeline: The dissemination of a Fleet Circular on recording small craft training exercises to be completed before June 2009.

Follow-Up

A follow-up status report on the actions items shall be prepared by Operational Support and submitted to the Director General, Fleet before January 2010.