Working Group on Safety Aloft and Overside

Working Group

Safety Aloft and Overside in the Maritime Workforce

The Problem

Falls from heights and overside represent critical safety risks in maritime environments. These incidents often occur during activities such as climbing rigging, working aloft, navigating slippery and uneven elevated surfaces, and boarding/disembarking vessels. They can result in severe injuries or fatalities and severely traumatize accident witnesses. The combination of ship movement, weather conditions, equipment failure, and human factors—such as fatigue, inexperience, or inadequate safety training—further exacerbates the risks. Despite advancements in safety equipment and protocols, there has been virtually no reduction in maritime fall incidents in recent decades. This issue not only endangers the lives and mental health of crew members and trainees but also undermines the operational efficiency and reputation of organizations reliant on maritime trade, education, and tourism.

The Main Objectives

The main objectives of the Working Group on Safety Aloft and Overside in the Maritime Workforce are:

Compile and analyze statistics and case studies on shipboard falls in the maritime industry
Compile and publish advisory documents on fall prevention safety equipment
Publish best practices for safety aloft and overside
Publish advisory documents on developing crisis response plans for falls from heights that include mental health support for witnesses

Mission

The mission of the Working Group on Safety Aloft and Overside in the Maritime Workforce is to enhance safety aboard ships by identifying, addressing, and mitigating risks associated with falls from heights and overside. We are committed to developing and promoting best practices, advisory documents, and safety solutions tailored to the unique challenges of the maritime environment. Through collaboration, research, and education, we aim to safeguard the lives of crew members, trainees, and passengers while fostering a culture of safety and preparedness across the maritime industry.

Participants

Nicolas Hardisty

Chairperson

Nicolas Hardisty is the current Director of Operations and former Program Manager for Tall Ships America, the national sail training organization representing the United States. His work with Tall Ships America has been guided by a desire to remove financial barriers to participation in the maritime world and create educational and career development opportunities for underrepresented populations.

After graduating from high school at 15, Nicolas sailed on tall ships and worked in marine trades until eventually shifting into sales. Disillusioned with organizations that valued profits over people, he found fulfillment in the nonprofit sector with Foster Forward. Nic’s work with Foster Forward connected him with youth who were largely aging out of the foster care system, and disproportionately at risk for unemployment, homelessness, and incarceration. He collaborated with talented staff and academic partners to develop and implement an award-winning work readiness program.

Nic then earned a B.A. and M.A. in History from Rhode Island College with coursework rooted in African American and Colonial Atlantic histories. His master’s thesis was a microhistory that explored concepts of Black citizenship in post-Emancipation United States and presented a new narrative of President McKinley’s 1901 assassination that he argued was the most accurate telling of the event to date.

Nic has been an instructor of history at Community College of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, and is currently an instructor of Maritime History at Northeast Maritime Institute. He regularly presents his academic articles at conferences and has spoken on historic diversity in the American maritime workforce, post-Emancipation Black education and citizenship, presidential assassinations and heroism, the World War I American Ambulance Corps, ideology in the late 20th century American punk subculture, paramilitary violence in Interwar Yugoslavia, and vicarious trauma among historians.

In 2021, Nicolas co-founded Global Empire & Resistance Scholarship, an academic collective that hosts conferences on resistance with the intention of connecting scholars and practitioners/social justice groups. The organization’s focus is on supporting BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, international, and early career scholars. Nicolas was a founding member of the tall ship industry’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and was also a member of the COPE° Working Group on Psychological Safety, Bullying and Sexual Assault and Harassment in the Maritime Sector. He currently serves on the New England Regional World History Association executive council and is an advisor with the Battle of Rhode Island Association.

Nicolas was named to the Rhode Island College Faculty of Arts & Sciences Alumni Honor Roll, which recognizes Rhode Island College alumni who have “brought honor to the college by distinguished achievement in their field.” In 2024, he received a commendation from the National Park Service for his work with the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route on developing the Women on the Water program, which provides shoreside and shipboard instruction in maritime skills and history to young women.

Eric R. Dawicki

Co-Chairperson

Eric R. Dawicki is an internationally respected maritime expert who has demonstrated leadership and industry-wide successes in the areas of maritime transportation, safety, security, and regulatory affairs, while also leading global advancements in maritime policy, education and training, and economic development.

A Master of Public Administration recipient with Concentrations in Public Affairs from American University in Washington, D.C., President Dawicki has led a distinguished career. With more than 33 years of experience in the maritime industry, his background combines policy and practical expertise with both theoretical policy development and real-world experience. This includes serving in the United States Coast Guard Reserve and the United States Merchant Marine, holding various shipboard positions, ship management specializing in LNG tanker operations, and providing consultancy to private shipping companies, port facilities and governments around the world on domestic and international regulatory instrument compliance.

Presently serving as President of Northeast Maritime Institute (NMI), Dawicki has developed it into the first private maritime college in the history of the United States, offering Maritime Science degrees and continuing education and comprehensive digital learning programs. This includes the development of innovative online learning simulators, training and certification platforms for mariners on a global scale. NMI also serves as a direct support to entities worldwide through the Center for Ocean Policy and Economics (COPE). In addition, Mr. Dawicki concurrently serves as Co-Founder, President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Dominica Maritime Registry, which has an international network of 28 regional offices and close to 400 vessels, many of which operate across the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Asian and Black Sea.

President Dawicki’s additional accomplishments include membership to the United States National Maritime Security Advisory Committee during the Obama and Bush Administrations and has served as the Lead Delegate to the United Nations' International Maritime Organization representing both the United States and the Commonwealth of Dominica and was both on the Board of Governors and Executive Governor to the UN’s World Maritime University, chairing it’s thirty-year sustainability plan, which is now successfully operating.

Joining the Group

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