On October 2016, the Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seafarers amended to include additional issues the following sections:
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Entry into enclosed spaces;
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The operation of watertight doors;
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Working at height and over the side, in line with new legislation;
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Scaffolding;
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Means of access;
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Mooring, especially small vessels;
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Handling of chemicals and other substances that can be hazardous to health including health surveillance.
Please click herebelow to view amended code
We got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these colour TV——-s
Lower back troubles are one of the most common with workers, there is no reason why it should be different with seafarers. The COSWP gives a nice picture as a guideline in “10. MANUAL HANDLING”. It basically shows the suggested limits of lifted weights depending on position (height, distance from core etc.) for either sex. One important aspect that I couldn’t find was that the load nominated in the picture is to be reduced, even upto 80% depending on the frequency of lifts (one-off, repeated, upto 12 times per minute etc.)
It would be prudent to add the following text (taken form the below linked hse.gov.uk source)
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg143.pdf
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Frequent lifting and lowering
The guideline weights are for infrequent operations ? up to about 30 operations per hour ? where the pace of work is not forced, adequate pauses to rest or use different muscles are possible, and the load is not supported by the handler for any length of time. Reduce the weights if the operation is repeated more often. As a rough guide, reduce the weights by 30% if the operation is repeated once or twice a minute, by 50% if it is repeated 5?8 times a minute, and by 80% where it is repeated more than 12 times a minute.
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This ie very vital, in order not to give the worker a false sense of safety while lifting heavy material!!!