Considering personal injury of crew, passengers and third parties on board vessels, as well as changes under English law to the compensation for these parties, the Shipowners’ Club presents preventative measures to mitigate such claims.
Many injuries happen during routine shipboard operations. An effective risk assessment not only reduces the possibility of such an incident, but may also prevent an incident from happening.
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However, there are cases where the ISM code is not mandatory, such as for vessels of less than 500GT or trading domestically. In these cases, the Club recommends the adoption and implementation of a system of safety procedures according to the ISM code. Such Procedures may include :
- Crew company and vessel inductions;
- Emergency contingency plans and drills/training;
- Routine shipboard operation procedures including cargo, bunkering, navigation/passage planning.;
- A planned maintenance system to plan, monitor and record routine tasks;
In addition, a Competence Assurance Scheme (CAS) can be implemented by operators to monitor the competence levels of their crew. Through work-based tasks and achieving goals, crew will develop their knowledge and observe good practices on board. CAS can be adapted on any kind of vessel.
However, operators with passenger vessels often experience passenger related injury incidents which result in claims. To help operators prevent such accidents, the Shipowners’ Club suggests that ensuring a safe access is paramount.
Boarding and disembarking a vessel can be dangerous if the means of access is not rigged in accordance with industry practices. Thus, means of access should be evaluated by a competent person to identify the hazards that exist.
Finally, rigging and transiting of gangways is a routine action. So, the crew must be very vigilant. It should also raise awareness of possible hazards and encourage a positive attitude towards safety and prevention of accidents, especially when unfamiliar third parties and passengers are concerned.
