Herald Of Free Enterprise Exercise Case Study Examples

It is not possible to remove the chances of accidents that occur, however certain steps can be taken to reduce the number and chances of accidents. Fleet management is about managing the fleet in order to reduce such accidents. Fleet management or control is to implement rules and regulations that the operatives have to follow by proper implementation of such rules would lead to the main objective. Most of the accidents that occur are because of the carelessness of employees working on the ship. So the task of supervisor is to manage and deal with such issues. Dover-Calais Route was being operated by the Herald Ferry and the ferry capsized on 6th March 1967. Bow doors and stern doors the top two reasons that have been regarded as the failure of the capsizing of the ferry. This report has been aimed to analyze different reasons that have resulted in Herald’s capsizing. Moreover the report also discusses how better fleet management could have improved and avoided such accident.
Improper management is one of the main reasons for the capsizing of the Herald. Improper management can be clearly identified from the scenario when the sister ferry was being tried, pride of free enterprise, then on the departure, the weight of the ship was found to be overloaded. The overloaded refers to ship was heavily loaded with regards to its design weight and this highlights the fact that the construction of ship was not managed properly by the manager. Therefore if manager or supervisor would have taken steps at the construction phase then such accidents would not have been occurred.
The other important reason that has been identified as the cause of the failure of the ship is the lack of responsibility of several people. Mr. Stanley was the supervisor and was responsible to close the bow entrance however he was sleeping when the ship was getting departure from the shore. Mr. Ayling is another individual that has played his part in the accident. Mr. Ayling was arguing and not closing the bow door and was saying that closing the bow is not his responsibility. Therefore Mr. Stanley should have completed his part of job and if he could not, then Mr. Ayling should have as it is about overall team and helping other team members as this would have saved the accident.
The other reason that has been found resulting in the capsizing of the ship is that the employees were operating the ferry without authorization. Mr.Sabel who was responsible to manage the loading of G-deck had started his task but then left managing the task. Then Mr. Mortor who was assisting Mr. Sabel came but overseeing the loading was not part of his responsibility and was not authorized to do so. Moreover, he was not qualified and experience to manage this important task, and therefore when the ship was overloaded he could not identified. Class II passenger certificate was possessed by the ship and it showed that there were more people on the ship at a specific time than there should be. Plus the certificate showed that the weight of the ship should have exceeded. However Mortor did not know about such issues as this was not his part of responsibility and Sabel should have been overlooking this phase.
The design has been one of the problems or risks of ferry and this has also played its part in the capsizing of the ferry. The management of Herald was no in contact and did not communicate with the employees and therefore this highlights the fact that the employees responsible to communicate with the management of Herald were not playing their part and not fulfilling their responsibilities. Thus, lack of communication has resulted in losing many lives and losses to the customers that were making shipment plus the company owned by Herald. However the overall management should also have taken notice of this situation and therefore they can also be considered as the one responsible for the accident.
There were certain rules that were to be followed. If rules are not followed accordingly then there is always a danger of such accident. Same is the case with Herald that the operators did not follow the rules and resulted in such an accident. The company should have ensured that these rules are followed strictly. Moreover, the company should have become more severe actions after the time when it was found that the bow door was not closed. If such actions were taken on time then it would have saved the ship from being capsized.
The other main reason that has been identified for the accident is how the ship was being operated. Employees working on the ship was not playing their part and not fulfilling their responsibilities. In addition to this, many of the employees passed their responsibilities to others instead of completing the tasks. While reassigning their responsibilities they did not even check the qualification and experience of the employee and thus all this mismanagement resulted in the accident. Moreover the rules were not being followed by the employees working at the ship and they were forming their own rules to govern the ship. One such example can be found when the ship captain who was not allowed to increase the speed of combinator 4, however the captain increased the speed to combinator 6 in order to reach the destination quickly. The rules did not allow him to do so and the captain from his own judgment made this important decision. Thus this situation has also resulted in the capsizing of the ship.
This accident resulted in huge losses for a number of people. Moreover, the ship owners have also suffered huge losses. In addition to this, the company reported large losses because of delays in the service to the clients and at the same time, the company lost a number of clients because of this accident. Thus the loss was not only report in the short run but in the long run as well.
Most of the errors that caused the ship to capsize are human errors and the situation could have been improved and the accident could have been saved. The management of The Free Enterprise Company should have taken certain actions to avoid such accidents such as proper management, making sure that everyone completes their own responsibilities and rules are being followed properly and strictly. Such measures would have helped the company from such accidents as these are the most of the main reasons that result in the capsizing of ship. In addition to this, the company also needs to formulate reward strategy and employees should be rewarded. Rewards would also play an important role in motivating and encouraging them. Thus it would have made them more responsible. Moreover, with rewards everyone would be willing to ensure that they play their part and this would have result in saving from such accidents.
The case presented that most of the accidents occur because of human error and steps can be taken to avoid such accidents. Negligence of responsibilities along with not following of rules can cause lives and huge losses thus it is important that the management ensures that rules \are followed and everyone fulfills their responsibility.
FISH BONE DIAGRAM