Tag: safe working practices

Swedish ferry operator Stena Line pleaded guilty to breaching Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) for failing to adequately assess risks in connection to a serious employee injury at the company’s port terminal in Birkenhead, Wirral, UK, in September 2017. 

The UK MAIB shared valuable lessons learned from a fatal fall of a bosun from a deck cargo during discharging operations, which stressed issues surrounding poor stevedoring practices. During this discharge operation, the vessel’s crew had witnessed a series of poor safety practices by stevedores, MAIB noted.

Reducing seafarers’ workplace injuries is of great importance to shipping and ship management companies. A new study investigating the causes of these injuries found that injury reduction campaigns focused on personal protective equipment (PPE) would be most effective at reducing risks to workers.

JTSB issued an investigation report on a crew member fatal fall onboard the cargo ship 'Erik', in September 2018. The investigation stressed that the crew was working in unstable posture on the ladder and that the company was insufficient in monitoring that crew members clearly understood Ladder guidelines. 

HM Coast Guard presented a check list of compliance, highlighting the main requirements operators need to check in order to comply with ILO 188. ILO's Work in Fishing Convention ILO 188, which came into force in the UK in December 2018, entitles all fishermen to written terms and conditions of employment.

ATSB issued an investigation report on a serious injury of two crew onboard the bulk carrier 'Shanghai Spirit', northeast of Port Alma. The ATSB found that, contrary to established procedures, the two crew remained on the unsecured scaffold tower in preparation for repositioning, rendering it top-heavy and unstable. 

North P&I Club has launched a new series of bite-sized training packs to help seafarers avoid the contributing factors to workplace casualties. The first training pack focuses on the Can Test, the IMSBC complementary test for bulk cargoes, to address suspected bulk cargo liquefaction, which has claimed lives of an estimated 112 seafarers since 2007. 

From 7 to 14 June 2018, Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority carried out an audit of Equinor’s operations at Kristin platform. The scope of the audit was on materials handling, use and maintenance of lifting equipment and scaffolding/access techniques, as well as its contractors’ practices.

Plan sharing meetings are very important for safety so each person knows what the others are doing and they avoid incompatible tasks, argued Captain VS Parani, noting that meetings should not be cancelled even amid time pressure. On this respect, he shared eight ideas to make meetings more efficient. 

Oil major Shell has revealed plans to reverse the working rotas for its offshore operations in the UK North Sea. Starting from May 2019, the company will move to two weeks offshore and three weeks onshore (2/3) rotas, following a campaign by Scotland’s largest offshore union.