GENERAL SHIPBOARD HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSGENERAL SHIPBOARD HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

GENERAL SHIPBOARD HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

SHIPBOARD HOUSEKEEPING AND PERSONAL HEALTH AND HYGIENE

The importance of good housekeeping in the prevention of accidents and conditions likely to be injurious to health should be given priority in the training of every member of the crew, until its acceptance becomes second nature.

Minor deficiencies in the ship structure, equipment or furnishings (for example, protruding nails and screws, loose fittings and handles, uneven and damaged flooring, rough and splintered edges to woodwork and jamming doors) may cause cuts, bruises, trips and falls. They should be repaired as soon as they are noticed.

Any spillage of oil or other substance likely to cause a hazard should be removed immediately.

Accumulations of ice, snow or slush should be removed from working areas and passages on deck.

Although all exposed asbestos and asbestos lagging was removed from Australian ships some years ago, some asbestos in sealed fittings or located behind bulkhead and deckhand linings could not be readily removed was left in place. Warning notices were affixed to the fittings concerned. Should any such fitting be damaged in the course of the voyage, a responsible officer must be informed immediately. Any exposed asbestos fibre or board should be covered and protected to prevent loose fibres escaping, pending proper repair or removal at the earliest opportunity by an authorised shore contractor (see also paragraph 17.5.5). These ships must maintain a register identifying the locations of asbestos.

Instruction plates, notices and operating indicators should be kept clean and legible. Heavy objects, particularly if placed at a height above deck level, should be stowed

securely against the movement of the ship. Similarly, furniture and other objects likely

to fall or shift during heavy weather should be properly stowed or secured. Doors, whether open or closed, should be properly secured.

Coils of rope and wires on deck should be located so as not to pose a tripping hazard.

Under no circumstances whatsoever should seafarers stand in a bight of a rope or wire which is lying on deck. Seafarers should never stand or move across a rope or wire that is under tension.

Ropes and wires are frequently under strain during mooring operations and seafarers should, as much as possible, always stand in a place of safety from whiplash should ropes or wires break.

The stowage and dispersal of deck or machinery equipment should be well planned and organised so that each item has its proper place.