The HR side in land, Sea and Air Disasters

Assuming, only for the sake of argument, that some of the land, sea and air transport disasters that our country has experienced are caused by human error, rather than unfavorable weather conditions or palpable mechanical defects, we submit, with due respect to the nation's thousands of human resource and personnel managers, that they have a certain degree of responsibility in the management of drivers, conductors, ship captains, engineers, and crew as well as pilots, and flight attendants. If they were over fatigued, sick or overworked, mentally disturbed or emotionally troubled, HR must have some explaining to do.

The MV Thomas Aquinas sea mishap that claimed many innocent  lives again must make all HR professionals in transport companies reflect deeply on how competent, how well-trained are their crew if not in preventing disasters, but in minimizing losses in lives and properties. The Cebu Pacific accident that happened in the Davao International Airport has led management to pay settlement money to the passengers who were poised to file a class suit for damages. A priest from Ateneo de Davao wrote in vivid terms his grave frustrations on the airline's supposedly apparent lack of disaster-preparedness. It was a very smart move on the part of management to have settled the matter outside the courts, otherwise, bad publicity would have been disastrous to the business.

One hypothesis advanced by observers was the supposed over fatigue of pilots and, in the case of sea disasters, the vessel's masters and chief engineers and other deck and engine personnel. HR should look into the matter of how many hours a day is a pilot airborne, or the ship's crew seaborne, or a driver on the road. The HR people should also coordinate with the transport companies' operations on the matter of the workers' safety, health and security. HR should, in fact, every once in a while, board the bus, the vessel or the aircraft, in order to see for themselves the working conditions of the crew.

On December 20, 1987, 4,340 Filipinos died in the worst sea disaster that we ever experienced, in the collision between MV Doña Paz and the tanker, MT Victor. All the 58 crew of the Paz and 11 of the 13 crew of the Victor perished. MV Doña Marilyn sank in October 1988 causing the death of 250 people including the crew. One-hundred thirty-one people were killed in the Air Philippines crash in Samal Island on April 19, 2000. In the Cebu Pacific air disaster in February 1998, in Claveria, Misamis Oriental, no less than 104 people died including the crew. The PAL flight to Baguio on June 26, 1987 caused the death of 50 people including the pilots and the flight attendants. The Robredo accident too, a year ago, was one of the most tragic we ever experienced.

There are thousands of land accidents ever year, where many are killed, injured or maimed. Everybody blames everyone or everything else. No one thought of asking how the crew were being trained. No one has asked what was the state of health, both physical, mental and emotional, and the state of morale, if you will, of the pilot, the captain or the drivers on the day of the accident. No one has considered the HR dimension of the whole thing. Everyone is blaming the weather, the machine, or the road, the sea or the air turbulence. Assuming however, that the proximate cause was human error, how would HR explain the way they might have anticipated problems, and how did they exercise due diligence in making sure that the personnel were seaworthy, airworthy or travel-ready every day of their journey.

I have been an HR executive for more than 30 years. I once managed the personnel of Petron and the PNOC Shipping and Transport. I have presided over many Board of Marine Inquiries. I was also Executive Director of the National Maritime Polytechnic. I am not blaming anyone here. I am only trying to test a hypothesis: What if the proximate cause of the disasters was the human error, lack of foresight, or lack of skill? What if the crew were over fatigued or were sick, physically or emotionally? Isn't management liable for damages? Isn't HR accountable too? I really hope and pray that it was indeed the weather, that it was a fortuitous event, an act of God, which are all beyond human intervention.