Relevant documents and M-notices: MGN 636
Q - Which law applies to UK ships with regards to health and safety?
A - The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety at Work) Regulations 1997.
This legislation is in parallel to similar legislation covering the onshore and offshore sectors. It also forms part of the UK’s implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006. The requirements of the regulations must be reflected in the vessels Safety Management System and implemented onboard as per the International Safety Management Code.
Learn the name of the regs by heart; there’s every chance you’ll be asked some health and safety questions, and being able to reel off the name of the relevant legislation always helps. This legislation applies to UK-flagged vessels wherever they are in the world and to non-UK vessels when in UK waters.
Each employer is required to produce a written statement on their general policy with regards to health and safety, and the arrangements and organisation in place for carrying it out. This statement must be brought to the attention of that employers workers; this usually means that is is included within the Safety Management System, and posted somewhere on the vessel.
What are the fundamental principles of the health and safety regulations?
The shipowner and employer have responsibilities to ensure health and safety of all seafarers and persons working on the ship
A Health and Safety Policy must be in place
Risk Assessments should underpin all safety measures
Health surveillance must be provided to workers identified as at-risk
All seafarers must be trained, and familiarised with onboard procedures (including emergency procedures)
The shipowner should consult those working on the vessel on the health and safety measures onboard
Each seafarer has a duty to look after their own health and safety, and that of others, and to comply with the measures put in place
Health and safety measures must be provided free of charge to workers
The regulations lay out several high-level responsibilities:
Shipowners (note that this means the person identified as the owner on the Martime Labour Certificate, OR the manager or bareboat charterer that has assumed the responsibilities of the shipowner) are responsible for making sure that masters have adequate support to carry out their responsibility for health and safety management while onboard.
Masters should ensure that the shipowners health and safety policy and procedures are implemented onboard. The master retains overall responsibility for health and safety onboard, though they will delegate specific duties.
Seafarers and other workers must co-operate with the master and the shipowner to implement health and safety policies.
General duties
The shipowner and employer have a general duty to:
Provide a safe working environment
Provide safety training
Provide safety equipment and safe work equipment (see also PUWER)
Advise crew of all the risks involved in work (Risk Assessments, Toolbox Talks)
Appoint safety officials as appropriate to the number of employees onboard (Safety Officer, Safety Representatives)
Ensure that safety meetings are held (these should be recorded in the Official Log Book)
Listen to, accept, and act on concerns
Employees have a general duty to:
Take care of their, and others, health and safety
Co-operate with the owners representative (the master) in order to promote health and safety
Use all equipment as per the instructions given
Not to tamper with safety equipment or safety features
Inform the master/safety officer of anything that is unsafe
Inform the employer or safety officer of anything that is against safety policies
‘Stop the job’ if required
Failure to do any of the above is a breach of the regulations. Also, any act which may endanger the ship, persons or cargo or the marine environment is considered gross misconduct (under the Merchant Navy Code of Conduct) and may lead to dismissal.
What is ‘stop the job’?
Every company will have a policy that is some variation on ‘stop the job’. This emphasizes that it is the responsibility of anyone noticing an unsafe act or condition to immediately report it. Imagine seeing that a crane is lowering a heavy load onto a deck with people, unaware, standing underneath. There is no sense in making a note of this to bring up later at the safety meeting; it requires immediate intervention.
Risk assessments
Health and safety measures must be based on the findings of risk assessments.
From COSWP, Chapter 1:
A“risk assessment” is intended to be a careful examination of what, in the nature of operations, could cause harm, so that decisions can be made as to whether enough precautions have been taken or whether more should be done to prevent harm.
The steps involved are:
Identify hazards
Assess the likelihood of harm occurring
Assess the consequences
Identify measures to reduce the risks as far as is reasonably practicable
A risk assessment is normally done using a pro-forma featuring a simple matrix. Likelihood multiplied by consequences = risk. Reducing the likelihood, or the consequences, reduces the overall risk.
To use an example, consider a climber scaling a cliff. The likelihood of them falling off is affected by their level of skill and the difficulty of the cliff being climbed. The consequence of them falling off is affected by whether or not they are using a rope and other protective equipment. The most risk would be a weak climber, climbing a difficult route, with no safety equipment. The least risk would be a strong climber, climbing an easy route, using a rope.
There is no explicit requirement for risk assesssments to be written down, however they should be regularly reviewed, and having written records is considered best practice; it also helps demonstrate compliance. As a general rule risk assesssments should be reviewed annually, or following any change to circumstances (i.e. a new deck layout, a change in systems of work). See Chapter 1 of COSWP for more detailed information.
Training
Before carrying out any task, the seafarer in question should have been adequately trained. Their capabilities (strength, flexibility) should have been considered and training should be repeated if there is a risk of the individual forgetting or if it needs updating to reflect changes. The shipowner has the same responsibility to train temporary staff as for permanent crew.
What does health surveillance mean, and who needs it?
Health surveillance should be carried out when a risk assesssment has identified that a work activity may cause ill-health. This means monitoring a worker to ensure that they are not showing signs of ill-health related to the work they have done. There are specific examples in health and safety legislation, relating to:
Noise
Vibration
Biological agents
Solvents
See COSWP Chapter 7 for more information.
‘Reasonably practicable’
Shipowners and employers are required to do what is ‘reasonably practicable’ to ensure the health and safety of seafarers. Risk must be balanced against the measures needed to control that risk, including the cost of those measures (in terms of time, money and effort required).
Safety officials and the safety committee
On any seagoing ship with five or more seafarers, a safety officer must be appointed (regulation 15). They should be provided with sufficient resources to carry out their role, including training. See also chapter 13 of COSWP.
On any seagoing ship with five or more seafarers, a safety committee must be established (regulation 17). This committee should consist of the master, the safety officer, and any other representatives appointed or elected.
A safety officer has six fundamental duties:
Monitor health and safety
Maintain all safety equipment
Conduct 3-monthly safety inspections
Stop unsafe work
Investigate accidents on behalf of the employer
Facilitate monthly safety committee meetings
MCAQs
Do the MS Health and Safety at Work Regs 1997 apply only to UK vessels?
What are the shipowners responsibilities?
What are the responsibilities of seafarers?
An AB spots that a guardrail is broken and doesn’t inform anyone. Have they broken the law?
Can a company provide PPE for a worker and deduct the cost of that PPE from their first paycheque?
Can a company be expected to totally eliminate risk in the workplace? Why not?
How often should the safety committee meet?
Explain the duties of the safety officer