DCN December Edition 2019

Women will understandably pursue alternate employment
options if their safety is not assured.
Neil Papenfus, Pacific Towing
investment in a range of gender equality initiatives, Pacific Towing’s
female staff might not be as safe as their male counterparts.
“Each and every one of our employees, whether they’re male or
female, equally deserve to be safe at work,” Mr Papenfus says. “This
is why we’re embarking on Gender Smart Safety in 2020.”
Mr Papenfus is aware of the relationship between maximising
the workplace safety of female staff and female employee retention.
“Women will understandably pursue alternate employment
options if their safety is not assured,” he says.
“Maximising the workplace safety of female staff, whether it’s
on vessels at sea, down on the wharves, or in the office is essential.
We have heavily invested in programs to increase the number of
women we employ and there is no way we’re going to jeopardise
that investment.”
One such program to increase the number of female staff is
PacTow’s ‘Women in Maritime Scholarship Program’. A partnership
with the Australian Government’s Australia Awards and the China
Navigation Company, the program fast-tracks the careers of female
deck and engine cadets.
Twenty young PNG women are currently benefiting from the
program, with additional cadetships on offer from 2020.
STAFF SAFETY AWARDS PROGRAM
The aim of PacTow’s Staff Safety Awards Program is to acknowledge
and reward improvements, excellence and innovation in safety
performance amongst employees.
Safety manager Richard Hayka says that the awards will be “a
‘carrot’ to further enhance PacTow’s safety vigilance and embed its
safety culture”.
“We already have mechanisms for rewarding exemplary safety
behaviour but the Staff Safety Awards Program will formalise and
improve upon this.”
The program will see staff, both individuals and teams, rewarded
throughout the year and will culminate in a Safety Awards
Function. The most prestigious award will be given to PacTow’s
Safety Champion (i.e. the person nominated by his/her bosses to
have made the most outstanding contribution to workplace safety).
A peer nominated award, the Safety Star, will also be presented.
One of the more significant contributions that PacTow will be
rewarding is safety through innovation.
“We’re increasingly known for providing innovative and homegrown
engineered solutions for clients and innovation is a big part
of our competitive advantage as well as our organisational culture,”
Mr Papenfus says.
“It makes good sense therefore to incorporate innovation in
to the safety awards. The company also anticipates rewarding
behaviours that centre on improving workplace safety for women.”
Examples of additional behaviours and achievements that
can attract awards include having a perfect safety record
over a given time period; a willingness to report unsafe work
practices; demonstrating safety leadership; and championing
the safety of others.
Maritime cadets Lylellah Kunai (left) and Glenda Amu
Female maritime cadets aim high
From Papua New Guinea to Singapore, New Caledonia,
Fiji and Australia, a group of women are following their
dreams of becoming future deck officers in the maritime
industry – and experiencing new cultures and professional
challenges in the process.
The young seafarers are undertaking a three-year
maritime cadetship through a partnership between the
Australian Government, China Navigation Company and
Pacific Towing. In 2020, Consort Express Lines will also be
joining the partnership.
Glenda Amu and Lyllelah Kunai [pictured] are two of
an overall cohort of 20 female cadets studying to qualify
as officers of the watch deck and officers of the engine
room, under the Australia Awards’ Maritime Scholarships
Program for Women since 2018. The scholarships involve
study in Papua New Guinea and sponsored international
work experience at sea.
Five of the women during a recent visit back to Port
Moresby, could not contain their excitement about the
ports they had visited and experiences they obtained in a
recent six-month training block at sea.
Between October 2018 and April 2019, the trainees
undertook practical seatime experience on board the MV
Szechuen, gaining important skills and learning more about
the international maritime industry – and themselves.
“At first it was quite new to us, working with such a
multi-national crew on board. So, we had to get used to
working in a new environment,” Ms Kunai says.
“But then as time went along, we became friends,” Ms
Amu says.
The awardees undertook practical elements of the
cadetship training program, on board MV Szechuen,
building on theoretical knowledge. Working alongside
more senior officers and observing all aspects of the ship’s
operations at sea and during port calls across the Asia-
Pacific were highlights.
“On a daily basis our cadet training officer went through
with us as per the cadet training program. We covered
topics including navigation, cargo watch and mooring,” one
cadet says.
Buoyed by their successes at sea, these seafarers
hope to see more women follow them into the maritime
sector, a field in which females remain notably underrepresented.
“It’s a tough industry. But if we can do it, other women
can too,” Ms Amu says.
The awardees recently began a second phase of sea
experience, this time with Pacific Towing, and are due to
complete their cadetships in 2021.
thedcn.com.au December 2019 47