Strengthen the building of safety culture 
& improve enterprise's management level

---- COSCO's try on the building of safety culture

Xiao liangyong

Culture department of COSCO

With china's accession to the WTO and the hastened process of economy globalization, competition is becoming more and more drastically. In this situation, safety becomes the important guarantee of the subsistence, development of the company and even the life of the company. COSCO is not an exception. We can survive and develop in the fury international market no other than meeting customers needs with safe, in time, high quality, efficient service. Therefore, we pay great attention to the building of safety culture while we pursue the max profits and values. Combining with the outstanding traits of shipping industry such as COSCO, this paper has made a trial research on how to build a helpful safety culture.

1.Characters of COSCO's safety culture

COSCO is the largest shipping company in china and one of the largest shipping companies in the world, provided with more than 500 ocean ship, up to 24 million tons carrying capacity, with sea route all over world. The business COSCO dealing with is in the character of the complicated and dangerous situation. Ocean ships always experience dangers such as perplexing landform, wicked weather, wars, while shuttling across international route. The sailormen may be on the ship for several years far from the country and their family, with bad-informed, bald and high-strength laboring life. Also, they bear great obligations of safety, credit of the company, even the behalf of the country. Therefore, how to do a good safety job is the key problem COSCO always has to pay great attention to.

Through the long-term practices and trials, we gradually have come into being a special thinking manner of company's safety work and safety culture building, which pave the way for the theory of safety culture building. First, we found two rules of safety culture in COSCO. Second, we summed up three relationships we should solve with stressed effort. Third, we proposed eight viewpoints to do a good safety job.

1.1 two rules
1) 2/8 rule
2/8 rule is one of the common rules in nature, such as 80% maritime affairs take place in 20% maritime space in the world, 20% normal whys cause 80% accident, also 80% maritime affairs are related with 20% sailormen. 2/8 rule occurs universally. 20% maritime space and 20% normal whys are the key minors. The key minors restrict the keyless majors, so we should pay the great attention to the key minors, however the keyless majors could not be neglected. In regard to the 80% keyless majors, the occurring chance is relatively less but outcome is serious as the same once it happens. Therefore, any company should well understand and fully use 2/8 rule in their safety job, such as a shipping company not only chiefly control tasks with many accidents such as shipping in narrow channel, operations of pass in and out gulfs, shipping in the fog, cold wave, shipping with dangerous goods, but also supervise the whole shipping process according to the process rule and the same to the management of human resource, say, make sure that captain, driver, turbine officer and so on are with the appropriate quality, do efficient management to everyone involved with safety question, regulate their responsibility, right and relationship.

2)Result coming-out late rule 
The result of the safety work won't get effect instantly. Ten to one, today's laxation or mistake won't show the serious result immediately, while the impact of today's basic safety work would get effect after a long period. This is result coming-out late rule of the safety job. The safety management should fit this rule. We can't relax the safety work due to this rule, however, since realizing this rule we should pre-do the job, pre-program and carry out the policy of "safety first, prevention prior" according to the rule. Based on precaution and strengthening supervision, we should put the measure of safe production into effect.

1.2Three relationships
1)The relationship of safety and politics
COSCO is a large state-owned company. We can't allow any accident in our safety job since our country let us to manage this company. If an accident occurs, there will be not only the loss of personnel, ship and goods, but the impact on the credit and development of the company and the confidence of the employee, also the losing of our country's business. If wherever COSCO's ship has an accident, there will be a bad impact on COSCO in the world, the impact on the state-owned company, the impact on the government of china, if there is a ship-sink accident or serious pollution affair, it will start the government leaders and disturb their work. We should deal with the safety work as a political problem from the view of "Three Representatives" and the view of "address politics". We must do this job well without mistake. The safety job is the practice of "three representatives" and contributes to the steady-going political environment. If we don't finish the safety job well, there may be political disturbance, which will result in a lot of social problems and horrible effects.

2)The relationship of "tighten the string of safety" and "tie well the safety belt"
"The string of safety" is our realization to the safety job and the question of the safe consciousness and the responsibility. We should pay attention to the safety work at any moment. "the string of safety" must be tightened all time. We should change our viewpoint from "you need safety" to "I need safety", to be more initiative.

"safety belt" is the question of safety mechanism, safety skill, substance safeguard. There will be a "safety belt" if all above is wholesome. Both can't leave one another and must combine with each other organically. We must keep safety in heart all the time, "tighten the string of safety"; and we must keep safety in hand completely, "tie well the safety belt", therefore, we can do the job very well.

3)The relationship of department's management responsibility and units' management responsibility
Department's management has great significance of instruction, education, supervision and management for unit's safety work. If department's management just focuses on the management of the units and ignores the management of the department, serious result may come out. Therefore, we must pay great attention to both sides. Whether does the safety management system of the department fit the units? Whether does the department instruct powerfully and correctly? Whether has the exact person who is responsible for the safety job been started by the system? These all are very important. We must do the job very well.

1.3Eight viewpoints
1)"safety is life"
Many facts teach us a lesson safety is life. We should not only mobilize our personnel, but also their family. We ask our people treat with safety as well as life. "Cherish life, and don't forget safety". As president Jiang said, great attentions must be paid to people's life. For example, when we hold a meeting for employee's family, we ask them to write a family letter for the employees, tell them "safety is life" and if they have any problem, the family will lose support. Bringing the safety work to the family is more meaningful. A family letter is more useful than our leaders' report, which testifies the significance of the building of safety culture.

2)"Yesterday's safe doesn't represent today's safe, furthermore does not represent tomorrow's safe"
Everything is developing, so is the safety job. We do the safety job very well yesterday, which do not represent today is the same. Yesterday represents the past, while can't represent today, not tomorrow yet. The past is successful, which don't represent we can do the job in the same way. We must do the safety job according to the developing and changing situation. In 2001, the result appeared very well since COSCO appointed safety supervisor to instruct safety job to each gulf.

3)"Safety does not mean non-accident only"
Non-accident is the most basic requirement of the safety job. We can't be satisfied with non-accident of the safety job. Not-accident does not represent we have done a perfect work. Say, when a ship down the sea at the first time but the mainframe isn't taken carefully, with non-accident. How can we say we do a good safety job? No. Safety does not mean non-accident only, and non-accident does not mean the safety system is running rightly. The safety job needs high standard and strict request. If there are any hidden troubles in the safety system, an accident will follow. Therefore, we can't dust our eyes by the normal record and superficies, while we should find the problems and hidden troubles by careful listening and looking in inspection.

4)"Safety is profit----ask for safety from management, ask for profit from safety"
Profit is the base for the safety work. If there is any safety problem, there is no guarantee for profit. The safety job is extremely important. No safety, no profit. Safety is the basic guarantee of company's existence and development. The safety job involves many efforts, finance, materials and manpower. Say, a ship runs aground in a foreign gulf, which will costs a lot of direct and indirect loss. So safety is profit. If we do the safety job very well, this means we create direct or indirect profit. We do a good safety job only by strict management and request, asking for safety from management and asking for profit from safety.

5)"The safety job meanly depends on management"
The safety job chiefly relies on management. If the management isn't finished well, the safety job is for nothing. While the management is involved with specific request, from the fulfillment of the bylaw, the design of the shipping route, the schedule of shipping, the requirement of the navigation, to the maintenance of the ship, all reflect the significance of the safety job.

6)"Old ship does not mean unsafety, while new ship does not mean safety"
This is the experiential summing-up and the conclusion of the navigation science. Almost all sub-companies of COSCO have experience of managing old ships safely. "Huatonghai", older than 20 years, not only does very well in management, safety job, maintenance, supplying knight service for customers, but also makes great profit for the company, which show that once the management is great, old ship does not mean unsafety. With new equipment new ship may still have accident if the sailormen do not take their responsibility or are not qualified. There are lots of examples in COSCO. All above tell us, we should pay our great attention to the safety job not only for new ships but also for old ships.

7)"The safety job is a solid work"
The safety job does not allow any falsehood, while request doing solid work. Speaking is for nothing, while doing is the key. Non-stopping of the ship is the responsibility of the captain. Non-stopping of the mainframe is the responsibility of the turbine official, non-loading mistake is the responsibility of the chief mate. The leadership department should put the request of the safety job into effect to everyone and everywhere concerned by instructing.

8)"The safety job is a job embodying science"
Science and technology is the first productivity. In the safety job, the more science and technology is contained, the more possibility is. The modern science and technology applied to ship-making, navigation etc. play an important role in the safety management and provide us with a very efficient means. With the development of science and technology, ocean ships' equipment becomes more and more automated, and requests on the ship science and technology and the sailormen's quality becomes more and more strict. So, stuff should be trained to master prolific knowledge and skilled experience. The science safety job also embody in polishing rules, normalizing operations and science management according to the international safety and quality rule.

2.Three principles COSCO has to follow during the building of the safety culture

First, enterprise inspirit is the core of the safety culture. Attaching importance to cultivate and develop enterprise inspirit and improving the making of the employees with enterprise inspirit to let them show their ability and wisdom in their work, both are the essential requests of the building of the safety culture.

Second, insisting on the principle of "based on human", intensifying safety consciousness, building up the correct view of life, fully elaborating the employees' work potential, all above are the purpose of the building of the safety culture.

Third, guided by "three representatives" thought, persisting in unifying the tangible substance culture and the intangible spirit culture to form mass consciousness of the company culture, both are the content and meaning of the building of the safety culture.

3.Measures on boosting the building of the safety culture

1）Strengthen dissemination and training of the safe production, and improve the employees' safety culture quality.
Besides paying attention to people's knowledge, skills, consciousness, ideas, morality, feelings, the building of safety culture attaches importance to outside factors and substance condition such as: people's behave, establishment and equipment, technics and utilities, and environment. Employees' inherence quality needs to be improved by the impact of culture. All levels departments of safety production supervision and company's culture department should attach great importance to dissemination and education, enhance acquaintanceship, intensify leading, plan as a whole, to build a perfect environment of the safety culture. For instance, there will be a campaign week of safety production in June all over the country with the subject "safety duty overweight Taishan Mountain". We should make use of all possible medias, sites and opportunities, utilize all dissemination and education forms people love to see and hear to enlighten people, instruct people, heighten people, bring up people and restrict people. We should train the employees with the content "popularize the knowledge of safety, fulfill the responsibility of safety", to improve their safety quality and self-safety ability. People's outside quality can be impacted by the system, therefore the perfect bylaw and system should be setup to normalize people's behavior and management of establishment and equipment, technics and facility, environment. At the same time, the building of the safety culture must imply education in all activities, such as in writing, management, law, actions, affection, relaxation. The employees should be educated in the activities of the safety culture with substantial results. We should pay attention to the characters of the safety culture, say, knowledge, mentality, practice, enjoyment, so it can be accepted and welcomed by the employees with actual effect.

2）Extend science and technology and form a stable foundation for the building of the safety culture
Science and technology is the ingredient of the social culture and the component of the human culture. Safety management also belongs to technology. Each company should establish a whole management system according to ISM rules, ISO9000 system, ISO14000 system,OHSMS18000 system and the real situation of itself, to advance the content of science and technology in the safety quality management. We should quick up the building of the safety information system, research careful and extend new technics greatly, innovate the technology of the ships, vehicles and equipment with scheme, assure the employees' body and mind health with fruits of science and technology, to provide the stuff with the favorable working and living condition.

3）Intensify the building of the legal system and ensure the health development of the building of the safety culture.
The safety laws and rules are the important ingredients of the safety culture and also contribute strongly to intensify the building of laws and rules, keep the building of the safety culture stable and continual and ensure the health development of the building of the safety culture. The education of the law, first of all is organizing the stuff to learn laws. Each company should organize the stuff to learn the safety laws of our country, laws, rules, codes, regulations, standards of IMO, director department of the government, maritime industry organization. Via learning the laws, each employee knows his responsibility, behavior guide line and the standard of the job, and understands that their activities such as pursuing profit, existence should comply with laws. In safety education, discussions such as "breaking rule is breaking law", "safety and law" should be hold frequently to solve suspects. In discussion, the stuff can take the relative information of the laws, understand the inside relation of "order" and "law", especially analysis on the positive and negative safety examples to make clear breaking order is breaking law which will result in taking on legal duty, to be educated and build the concept of the law and boost the consciousness of following the laws. Third, we should deal with especial accident strictly according to the principle of "four non-letting pass" and put it up as a caution education. It is very important to regard the international pacts and rules as the measure of pushing the safety culture when the rules and significance of the safety production have not been recognized fully. Each company should strengthen research, learning and disseminating documents of international pacts and rules on the terms of the safety production, to let people understand and keep the rules to complete the job well and ensure the health development of the building of the safety culture.

4）Set up the supervision management mechanism of the sound safety production and promote the development of the building of the safety culture.
Requirements as follows:
First, to set up the system of the safety job focused on the obligation of the safety production. COSCO lists safety production into the assignment books of the management and spirit civilization every year. When the sub-companies receive the assignment books, the duty will be assigned to departments and posts. The achievement should be integrated with the job finished, encashing the policy of rewards and punishment.

Second, to campaign the learning of conforming to the objective, such as COSCO(hangkong) shipping company, huatonghai, minghe ship. Learn them un-disgracing their missions, such as doing the very good job of the safety quality with great responsibility, the job of the maintaining and servicing of the equipment, the job of inspecting in ports and endeavoring themselves to keep the port inspecting resort rate below the standard.

Third, to establish and do the safeguard work of the safety production well step by step. According to the indication of the task of the state safety production in 2002 and combining with the COSCO situation, we should finish the following work well: reinforcing the dissemination and education of the safety production; safety training; building up the safety information system; carefully organizing the shipping of dangerous chemists; finishing the safeguard work of the safety production well. It is very important to make out the above well, which is the guarantee of the safety production and also is the significant move for the building of the safety culture. We must move it tightly, carefully, solidly and efficiently. 

Fourth, to learn and introduce advanced management experience and management mechanism from oversea to polish ours and promote the building of the safety culture.

5）exert ourselves to cultivate employment ethies and erect spirit of loving one's post, respecting one's occupation, pursuing perfect.
In the process of the building of the safety culture, enhancing the building of employees' ethies, managing the company with morals are the very important content of the company's thinking and political job. The building of the safety culture could not be independent of the company's thinking and political job, while the standout thinking and political work could not leave the powerful leadership of all level Communist Party. They have improve the general quality of the employees and have constructed a perfect environment of the safety culture by setting themselves an example, thinking-education, culture building, practice inducting. Employees should cherish their posts and work hard according to the object of the organization, build the safety culture well with high standard and strict request and turn themselves to be a noble-minded person.

There is beginning for the safety job without ending, and the same is the building of the safety culture. We must recognize the difficulties, long-time lasting and urgency of improving the safety quality management level and the building of the safety culture, to pursue the superexcellent situation of the safety quality management the safety culture. We should actively polish and strengthen "zero theory": zero-accident, zero-quality defect and zero-port inspecting resort rate. The building of the safety culture of COSCO will have a great spring by continual innovation and perfecting the management system of the safety quality.