THE MWF SYSTEM

Employees/Volunteers

All employees and volunteers should be considered as staff within Making Waves Foundation (MWF) and treated in the same manner with the same rights and responsibilities. To make things easier in the reading, volunteers and employees will be called staff from here on in throughout this document.

Induction

It is the responsibility of the General Manager to ensure that all new staff receive an induction. All new staff must participate in an induction program.

MWF will schedule all new staff to attend an induction within the first week of employment.

An appropriate amount of time and resources should be used to ensure that all the required information is communicated to the new staff member.

An induction includes familiarisation with this Standard Operating Procedures, Workplace Health & Safety as outlined herein, the onboard Safety Management System, duties to be undertaken, dealing with clients/customers, physical layout of the site, etc.  This will ensure that staff can work safely and represent MWF effectively.

The induction program should be tailored to suit the needs of the staff being inducted.

The General Manager is responsible for following up the employee’s induction during the first month of employment.

All new staff are inducted through the MWF Staff Induction as outlined in the online Learning Management System (LMS).

Training

Staff members are encouraged to detail any training requests in an email to the appropriate Coordinator who will liaise with the General Manager.  Limited funding (or part funding) may be available.

Staff may be requested to undertake training at any time by MWF. Any support for this training will be detailed at the time of the request.

Terms and Conditions

All staff members are considered employees and work according to a schedule that is agreed in advance as well as adhering to all MWF policies, procedures, and processes.

1.4 Qualifications

There will always be adequate supervision of all activities by a person or persons holding the relevant qualifications and/or experience within MWF.

Suitably experienced and skilled staff will lead all activities.

Each staff member has an associated staff file where details of their qualification and experience are recorded. It is the responsibility of staff to ensure that the office receives any updated qualifications or certification to be added to that file.

First Aid

It is strongly recommended that all staff always have and maintain a valid First Aid certificate when they are engaged in activities with MWF.

Working with Children

All staff must have a current Working with Children Certificate (WWCC) for the region they are in whilst working on any program within MWF. Staff are also required to adhere to MWF’s Child Safety & Welfare Policy.

Monitoring the Standard of Programs

We pride ourselves on the quality of our programs. Great emphasis is placed on the quality of leadership given by all staff members who work for MWF.

Supervisors will observe all staff and offer constructive advice to support improvements in the quality of all our programs. This advice will not be confined only to sailing practices.

If there is a perceived lack of development or a problem with performance, the Supervisor will in the first instance provide feedback to the staff concerned and if further action is needed, he/she will provide feedback to the relevant Coordinator.

Any actions that impact on the quality of our programs or the services delivered to our clients will be taken very seriously and followed up by the office.

Details of any incident, accident or near miss are to be recorded on the form contained in Appendix 2 at the end of this document and passed to the relevant Coordinator. A review of any incident, accident or near miss shall be initiated by the General Manager to understand what exactly happened and to ensure that there is not a repetition of the incident in the future.

In the case of a serious incident the Skipper or most senior person shall contact the General Manager at the earliest opportunity and provide details.

In the case of a major Incident (such as a fatality), the Skipper or most senior person shall contact the General Manager at the earliest opportunity and proved details. In all circumstances the Emergency Communications provisions within the Communications Policy will be followed including the timing for reporting the accident, incident or near miss.

Workplace Health

Our Workplace Health and Safety Policy is intended to:

• show our continuing commitment to health and safety in the workplace.
• remove or reduce the risks to the health, safety and welfare of all workers, contractors and visitors, and anyone else who may be affected by our business operations.
• ensure all work activities are done as safely as possible.

Responsibilities

MWF Management are responsible for providing and maintaining:

• a safe working environment.
• safe systems of work.
• tools, equipment and chemicals in safe condition.
• facilities to support the welfare of all workers.
• any information, instruction, training and supervision needed to make sure that all workers are safe from injury and risks to their health.

MWF Staff and Volunteers are responsible for:

• All crew must have a working knowledge of all safety equipment on board and its location.
• Ensuring their own personal health and safety, and that of others in the workplace.
• Complying with any reasonable directions (such as safe work procedures, wearing personal protective equipment) given by management for health and safety reasons.
• Making sure they are aware of our Workplace Health and Safety Policies.
• Disclosing any condition, medical or otherwise, that may affect their ability to perform certain tasks.

During your on-water orientation crew are expected to have a working knowledge of all safety equipment on board and its location. This includes EPIRB’s, Dan Bouy, MOB equipment and set up, fire extinguishers, Flares and V-sheet.

If in doubt as to the location of any of the equipment refer to the safety storage diagram, this is located on the bulkhead down below in front of the mast.

In the event of any of the below, it is the skipper who will be responsible, and you must follow their instructions.

FIRE

• Do not attempt to fight the fire.
• Let the skipper know the location of the fire immediately. If you believe there is a fire in the engine compartment, do not open the engine compartment.
• Follow instructions from skipper and or 2IC.
• Help move guests to the appropriate area of the boat.
• Do not jump off the yacht, stay calm as this is important for the guests to see a calm crew.
• The skipper is responsible for the management of the fire and crew.
• If you need to get on deck from the forward hatch, be aware that the spinnaker pole may be hindering the opening of the hatch.
• Do not jump off the yacht.

FLOODING

• If you see water down below, let the skipper know immediately.
• Please stay calm and take instructions from the skipper and or 2IC
• If the boat has not been grounded, it is more likely that a hose clamp has come loose and easily fixed.
• Do not jump off the yacht.

ABANDONMENT

• If any of the above events become a major incident and you need to abandon the yacht, follow the instructions from the skipper and the 2IC
• The skipper will make the decision and only then will the vessel be abandoned.
• The skipper will make a mayday call, and allocate who will launch the life raft, collection of grab bag and other safety equipment.