AMSA issued a safety alert aims to raise awareness on the risks posed by dangerous marine fauna. Australian waters contain a range of dangerous fauna that secrete toxins, inject venom, release or contain poison, harbour dangerous bacteria, give electric shocks or just have sharp teeth. Some can become aggressive once disturbed.
An unwanted encounter with any of these dangerous fauna can happen without warning, so it is essential that you, your crew and passengers are prepared.
Dangerous fauna include marine stingers, sea snakes, venomous, poisonous or spiny fish, blue-ringed octopus, crocodiles and sharks.
It is the owner’s responsibility to identify the risks associated with dangerous fauna and develop ways of controlling and responding to these risks in the vessel’s safety management system.
Managing the risks
-The master is responsible for implementing the safety management system, while crew and others onboard the vessel are responsible for following the instructions of the master.
-Get informed about the dangerous marine life in your region. Record the kinds of dangerous marine fauna that you could have contact with during your operation.
-Assess the risk to you, your crew and others onboard the vessel in all possible scenarios of your operation—what impact could the risk have if it became reality and how likely is it to happen?
-The most effective control you can put in place, is to reduce the risk of a person coming into contact with dangerous marine fauna during your operations.
-Document these controls in your safety management system and make sure you train and induct crew and others on board the vessel in what to do in each scenario.
Key preventative measures
- Consider the danger to yourself before entering the water and whether tasks can be carried out another way.
- Use personal protective equipment such as puncture resistant gloves (if there is a risk of contact with marine fauna with toxic or venomous stings, bites or spikes) and stinger suits (when entering waters where box jellyfish and other stingers are likely to exist).
- Consider the use of other equipment to handle dangerous marine creatures such as hooks or grabbers used to remove sea snakes from fishing nets.
- Make sure new crew members joining the vessel, and to a certain degree passengers, are aware of the risks posed by dangerous marine fauna, and the risk controls in place. Induct and train your crew and ensure policies and procedures are being followed.
Reminder
- Reduce the risk of contact with dangerous marine fauna.
- Document the risk assessment in your safety management system.
- Ensure everyone on board the vessel is aware of the risks.
- Plan how you and your crew will respond in an emergency.
