CHIRP Maritime announces confidential electronic incident-report system

With the launch of its new website, CHIRP Maritime has made it possible for yacht crew to submit confidential and anonymous incident reports online, in a move towards creating a proactive safety culture on board.

The Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) is “an independent system for all those involved in the maritime industry to report incidents of concern.” 

With the launch of the new website, captains and crew will now be able to send confidential accident reports electronically, which, with the general unwillingness of crew to report incidents, will be a welcome move in the right direction. 

In a statement, CHIRP Maritime explained, “We are pleased to announce the release of our revised website, www.chirpmaritime.org. We want to make it easier to use CHIRP: It is now possible to send your confidential reports to us, including photographs and the ability to read our published articles from your desktop PC, your laptop, mobile phone and tablet.”

The new website also allows users to search CHIRP’s 45 editions of its Maritime FEEDBACK newsletter with recent maritime incidents and advice, as well as video broadcasts, audio podcasts and articles.

Speaking to SuperyachtNews, John Rose, director of CHIRP Maritime explained, “The design, how to report in confidence and how to make best use of the safety lessons learned from others is much improved and ideal for the superyacht industry. Most notably, all of the website functions can now be accessed using a mobile phone or tablet, and the use of photographs to go with a report is now easy to include and actively encouraged.”

According to David, the lack of incident and near-miss reporting in the superyacht industry likely comes down to the industry’s blame culture, and a fear of being named and shamed.

David continued, “It is time to address the apathy that surrounds safety on superyachts: We see photos of crewmembers cleaning superyachts, wearing no safety harness with only a concrete dock to stop the fall.

“The irresponsible action of others should also be reported. Take a photo, and the name of the vessel, and CHIRP does the follow-up without revealing the identity of the reporter or the names of the superyacht, or, where applicable, the management company. Any action taken following a report is only done so with the reporter’s agreement.”

For more information, visit CHIRP Maritime.