PROFILE
Steve Austen is head of engineering support at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and has been with the organisation for nine years.
What academic qualifi cations do you have? A 1st Class BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering.
How are you qualifi ed to carry out your role? I have a range of technical, professional qualifi cations, and experience from 11 years’ service in MoD procurement – specialist and in-service support sections – followed by project management responsibility of new boat and vehicle projects and design authority roles with the RNLI.
Have you continued your education throughout your career? Yes. Most recently, I have started an MSc module in hydraulic design as a little light relief from the day job!
What challenges do you face in your role? The RNLI technical department manages the design, development, construction, procurement, and support of the charity’s equipment, ranging from boats to boots, submersible tractors to lifeguard equipment. T e overwhelming majority of the RNLI’s lifeboat
crew members are volunteers so we have some of the best critics in the world – passionate and well-informed! When funding comes entirely from voluntary contributions, balancing priorities and requirements to give the volunteers the kit they need to carry out their lifesaving role safely and eff ectively is a perpetual challenge.
What advice would you give to young people starting out in your profession? A career in engineering is tremendously rewarding if you like problem solving. It’s a very broad profession where experience counts as much as knowledge, so take opportunities for placements while you aren’t tied down and don’t specialise to soon.
Of what are you most proud with regard to your career? It’s proud and humbling to meet a crew member who
Ship & Boat International September/October 2008
has saved someone’s life using the boat you played a part in developing, or to meet the person or group who has donated the money to buy it.
What are the most interesting aspects of your work? As there are no applicable classification society rules or MCA regulations to guide us on how to safely design, build, and operate lifeboats in the most extreme conditions, much of our design work is derived from fi rst principles or carried out on an empirical basis, underpinned by relevant equipment standards and an appropriate safety management system. As a result, the RNLI has developed some of the most advanced lifeboats in the world to help the crews with their vital lifesaving work, which is both stimulating and rewarding.
How do marine regulations affect your work? T ey have an increasing eff ect on what the RNLI does and we are responding accordingly. We have co-written a code of practice for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of open rescue boats with the MCA and independent rescue boat operators, and are embarking on a similar exercise for our larger offshore all-weather boats in order to capture and interpret relevant marine regulations into a useable format. T e need for greater external accountability will
also lead to the introduction of a formal quality management system across the engineering function. On a specifi c point, the need for engine manufacturers to respond to changing emission regulations is affecting our ability to standardise engine confi guration across a class of equipment, which has knock-on design and support costs for the RNLI, and presents us with new challenges.
How do you motivate and inspire your team? Providing the right equipment and support to the RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crews is a significant motivation for the team. However, I also try to ensure, wherever possible, that work is delegated
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RNLI has 235 lifeboat stations around the whole coast of the UK and Republic of Ireland
ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION
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