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ISO 9001 2015 Certification ( LRQA Standards )

1° Introduction

Established since 1996, the ISO 9001-2015 certification of the Le Havre/Antifer/Fécamp pilot station was set up by the Fédération Française des Pilotes Maritimes (FFPM : french maritime pilots association), covering a multi-site approach.

By adopting these norms, the station shows its willingness to reinforce its image by constantly improving its service to vessels and satisfying its clients, the shipowners.

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2° The quality policy

The pilots commit themselves to:

  1. Comply with and apply the QMS documents of the station.
  2. Serve vessels in the best possible safety conditions.
  3. Inform the captain of the details of the pilotage operation, let him know of their intentions before carrying out the operation and make sure that he understands.
  4. Report to the harbour master and other vessels of all relevant information regarding the efficiency and safety of traffic flow.
  5. Be courteous in their liaisons with captains, agents, and other relevant parties whilst carrying out their professional services.
  6. Not engage themselves in any conflict of interest during pilotage operations in order to maintain their freedom of action and their objective judgement in the general interest of the traffic and its safety.
  7. Inform the ship’s agent of any problem that occurs during the pilotage operation.
  8. Immediately report to the harbour master and/or the relevant maritime authority of any accidents, incidences, deficient ships, observations, likely to harm navigation safety, the environment or the port installations.
  9. Promptly notify the “Centre de Sécurité des Navires” (vessel safety centre) of any deficiency noticed aboard the vessels which could present a risk to human life at sea or a risk to navigation safety or a risk to the environment.
  10. Keep their technical and legislative knowledge up to date in order to carry out the profession of pilotage in the correct manner.
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3° The procedures of the Quality Management System (QMS).

The station has defined 7 procedures :

Procedure n°1 : Dealing with the orders for a pilot and ensuring its follow up.

Orders for pilots for inbound vessels are organised by the “capitainerie” (le havre port) depending on the agents orders and berth availability. After conferring with the office duty pilot (pilot on watch at the station) about the feasibility of the movement, the said duty pilot organises the designation of pilots who will ensure the flow of traffic within the port. Orders for pilots for outbound or shifting vessels are addressed directly by the agent to the duty pilot. The duty pilot advises the agents regarding all technical or tariff related questions concerning a vessel.

Procedure n°2 : Ensure the boarding and the disembarking of the pilote (vehicle, launch, helicopter).

Vehicle, launch, helicopter and human ressources of the station are at the disposal of the designated pilot.

Procedure n°3 : Piloting the vessel (on the bridge).

The pilot is designated according to the rota system and prepair the operation  with the data included in the information sheet.

Once on the bridge of the vessel he analyses the feasibility of the operation in agreement with the captain, and comply with the Master and Pilot exchange procedure.

He carries out the operation whilst ensuring the planned procedures take place.

Back at the station, he reports on the conformance or non conformance of the operation on his information sheet, which he then puts in the relative pigeon hole with the pilotage slip.

In the case of a non conformance needing to be dealt with immediately, the pilot will take all steps that he deems necessary in order to sort it out as soon as possible.

Procedure n°4 : Provide, manage and maintain necessary equipment in order to run an efficient service

The purchasing of equipment and the suppliers used is determined depending on an evaluation of needs. Once the equipment is bought, it is necessary to plan its use and ensure its maintenance in order to have a total availability of material means at the pilot station.

Procedure n°5 : Provide human ressources and manage skills

A competence profile is established per post : it sets the needs required for a certain job. The initial training of pilots and personnel is rigorously set up and ensured within the establishment. A yearly evaluation of training needs is done and then dealt with using an external training programme. These training courses are evaluated by the trainee as well as by the person in charge of the procedure.  The pilots follow a training programme on a ship handling simulator taking into account their level of experience and the areas piloted. Simultaneously, the pilots take knowledge upkeep modules in order to perfect their ability to ensure a high quality service.

Procedure n°6 : Communication

The requirements of the ISO 9001 revision 2015 standard have been reinforced in terms of communication formalism: it involves integrating external communication in addition to internal communication into the continuous improvement system. It is important to understand that communication is both internal and external. The organization, the Station, is, of course, called upon to communicate with all of its stakeholders and must use effective, coherent communication strategies both internally and externally. Beyond a purely informative role, effective internal communication brings added value to the management of human resources in the Station. It allows to mobilize around projects such as the implementation of the Quality Manual and its working procedures, but also to enhance skills, strengthen the sense of belonging, stimulate the efficiency and creativity of employees as well as create an atmosphere of trust for the performance of the body. Effective communication remains an element of cohesion within teams and reinforces employees’ sense of belonging.

Procedure n°7 : Insure the management of the compagny, application of the qms in the aim of permanent improvement.

The association is the interlocutor of the administration for organising the public service of french pilotage. The association defines the policy and the qms objectives of the profession. It also heeds information from pilot stations in defence of their general interest regarding the profession on a local, national and international level. The association accords itself ways to apply this qms policy :

– The qms performance is evaluated through internal planned federal audits

– The national management inspection held during the association assembly allows to ensure the follow up of qms commitments of the profession by analysing audits and the results of the stations, and the setting up of plans of action for the improvement of the qms efficiency.

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