Marina Dock Age, March 2002

Compliance and Complacency
by Gene Spinazola

For the past 17 years I have been working with the marina industry. When I first started, my goal was to help every marina in the United States develop a “Fire Plan.” A bit lofty, I know, but during my boating travels, I realized how little time, money, and emphasis marinas were placing on fire training and fire safety issues. So, 17 years later, guess what, I am still surprised at how little time marina managers spend on fire training and fire safety issues. It may be complacency, but from my standpoint it’s a compliance issue.

One thing I have learned from you folks is that if you have had a fire at your marina, you are much more likely to devote meaningful time to this subject. Even then, however, time heals the wounds, and the memory loss syndrome dulls and waters down your recollection of a once very bad situation at the marina.

A contributing factor to complacency is the turnover rate of your employees. Remember Peter and Paul? They were both working for your marina when you had the fire. They remember just how bad it was that day, you know, the smoke, the flames, and how long it took for the fire department to arrive—it seemed like hours. Oh, yes, you remember, too. Well, Peter and Paul went off with Mary, their golden retriever. They’re in the islands now singing songs about some magic dragon they saw at the entrance to the Banana River, and telling the story about the fire at your marina.

The two new employees that you hired weren’t here for the fire and have not experienced the adrenaline rush, the chaos on the docks, the tremendous heat, the propane tank that blew up or any of the issues that came after the fire. And while you have told these two new dock hands about the fire, somehow, it just isn’t the same, is it?

How do we avoid complacency? How do we keep the level of interest up where it should be? What works, and just as important, what doesn’t work? What is a turn-on or a turn-off for your employees when it comes to fire training? You can get a lot of help with your training programs, some of which is free and some not so free. Regardless of the cost of the training, if that program doesn’t work for you and your staff, don’t have that program again. A good quality 20-minute training session that your staff can relate to may be more effective than a day-long program that misses the mark and lacks a message. Continue »