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The shipbuilding industry faces many unique hazards. Like all major shipyards, NGSS builds its vessels through modular
construction. In modular construction, NGSS builds hundreds of separate units that are assembled into larger units and
then integrated into the vessel.
The modular construction process results in an extremely dynamic work environment in which the job site continually
changes, with employees and materials constantly in motion. Very few operations involve a static "assembly line" where
conditions are uniform and subject to constant controls. Nearly everything and everyone associated with vessel
construction will, at one time or another, be in transit as the unit construction process takes shape.
The New Vision includes all stakeholders in the shipbuilding process and is designed to enhance employee safety and
health. This process requires "buy in" from Operations, Facilities, Upper Management, support organizations, and, above
all, the workforce.
In adopting the united approach, NGSS formed cross-functional stakeholder teams and strengthened its employee Safety
Action Teams (SAT) to meet its goals of reducing injuries and illnesses. Moreover, NGSS entered into a Strategic Alliance
with OSHA for its shipyards in Louisiana (New Orleans, Waggaman, and Tallulah) and Mississippi (Pascagoula and
Gulfport). The Strategic Alliance includes the active cooperation and participation of the collective bargaining
representatives for the workforce, including the Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO and the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers.
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The New Vision initiatives had a significant impact on reducing injuries and illnesses across the sector. In 2002,
the total case incidence rate (TCIR) was 32.9 per 100 workers. This TCIR, in part, reflected the unique and
hazardous nature of the shipbuilding industry. The initiative, however, sought to reduce the TCIR to 22.0 per
100 workers by the end of the first quarter of 2005. NGSS exceeded its TCIR reduction goal. Indeed, for the year
ending 2006, NGSS’ New Orleans facility reduced its TCIR for the year to 9.6--a 70 percent decrease from the
facility's 2001 TCIR of 32.2.
The Fatality
One of the unique hazards facing the shipbuilding industry involves employees working near or under a
suspended load. It is widely recognized in the industry that certain operations can be accomplished only by
employees working under a suspended load. In light of these operational requirements, the industry has been
striving to find ways to mitigate the exposure to this special hazard for employees working in this manner.
Indeed, this very issue of working under suspended loads was raised as an agenda item at the Maritime
Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) meeting on Sept. 26-27, 2006.
Despite the systemic changes to its safety and health systems and culture, NGSS’ New Orleans facility incurred a
fatality in July 2006 when a suspended load struck an employee at the facility. In the incident, a portal crane
had been suspending and traveling with a mast unit for a vessel under construction by NGSS. The mast unit was
scheduled to be set at a designated staging area on the ground pending its integration. As the crane operator
boomed down to position the load, he observed that the load was approaching the boom angle's rated
capacity. The operator and Crane Foreman halted the travel of the unit to its designated location and made
arrangements to secure another crane to assist with the lift. For several hours, the mast unit remained
suspended approximately 4 feet off the ground.
While it was suspended, a General Superintendent decided to inspect the underside of the mast unit. He sought
to inspect a particular component to assess how to integrate the mast unit onto the vessel. With the General
Superintendent beneath the suspended unit, several employees voluntarily traversed under the load to greet
the General Superintendent. Unfortunately, a sling holding one end of the spreader beam broke, causing one
side of the load to fall to the ground and strike one of the employees beneath, causing the fatality.
These precautions recognize that, because of the consequences associated with the hazard of suspended loads,
multiple precautions (even if redundant) must be employed to enhance employee safety and health.
Ultimately, the best precaution against similar incidents comes from an enhanced culture of accountability,
high employee involvement, and individual responsibility for safety and health. NGSS strives to reach these
goals and obtain VPP status for all locations in Mississippi and Louisiana in 2007.