Safety and Emergencies

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SAFETY

Safety is important in every aspect of running a ship.

Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be considered non-desirable. Safety can also be defined to be the control of recognized hazards to achieve an acceptable level of risk. This can take the form of being protected from the event or from exposure to something that causes health or economical losses. It can include protection of people or of possessions.

Although there are many aspect ways to create a safe and working environment at sea.

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SAFETY ON BOARD

The health of the crew, shipboard safety and the prevention of accident are matters of top priority. Safety covers all of the vessels activities including navigation, cargo operations, mooring and unmooring, vessels maintenance and cleanliness, machinery operations etc.

SAFETY ON BOARD cont.

Seafarers are subjected to various hazards such as:

1.vessel rolling and pitching under heavy weather.

2. operation of machinery and equipment under heavy weather.

3. cargo danger

4. fire and explosion and

5. navigational hazards

SAFETY TRAINING

Safety must be learned by a combination of experience, training and persuasion. Although experience only comes with time, the quality of such can be improved with good training and exposure to provide solid evidence about the importance of safety.

TOOLS OF SAFETY TRAINING

1. Visual aids

2. Notices

3. Fire patrols

4. Accident records

5. Permit to work system

6. Safety bulletin

7. Poster

8. Marine safety cards

9. Maintenance of safety

equipment's

10. Informal talk

ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Shipboard accident are attributed to the following:

1. Lack of training

2. Lack of concentration/ inattention

3. Lack of Communication

4. Unsafe/ Unobservant procedure

5. Lack of work planning

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Prevention of accidents on board ship

Improve/correct procedures and/or methods of shipboard operations

Improve the training of the ships personnel and;

Strengthen the TEAMWORK

MUSTER LIST or STATION BILL

a list of the crew and their duties in case of fire and other emergencies that is posted in the crew's quarters or another conspicuous place on a ship

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EMERGENCIES

An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or environment. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some situations, mitigation may not be possible and agencies may only be able to offer palliative care for the aftermath.While some emergencies are self-evident (such as a natural disaster that threatens many lives), many smaller incidents require the subjective opinion of an observer (or affected party) in order to decide whether it qualifies as an emergency.

SHIPBOARD EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN (ERP)

In any emergency situation onboard a vessel, a prompt, organized and well rehearsed response must go into immediate action and must be standard for all vessels in a fleetThe basis of the ERP is that small and well trained teams would tackle any emergency that may arise

Emergencies that may occur

FireExplosionGrounding CollisionPollution etc.

Team Effectiveness
The Success of each team is dependent upon varying skills and attributes of individual team members as well as upon the degree of effectiveness in harnessing such skills through realistic simulation of all forms of emergency.

Fire fighting (all members)

Enclosed space entry

Search and rescue techniques

Observant and able to communicate

Electrical skill

Mechanical skill

Seamanship skills

First Aid skill

Survival skill

Knowledge of the ship and its equipment

Damage control

Physical fitness

Self-disciplined

Team spirit

THE VESSEL IS THE SAFEST REFUGE
Sources of guidance to safety for the information of the vessels officer can also be found in the following useful aids:

Machinery and equipment instruction manuals

Pain and coating manuals

Drum Labels

Cargo shippers instruction

Navigational Notices, publications and radio message

Port Regulations relevant instructions

Medical Guide

DRILLS

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FIRE DRILL

All fire extinguishing means should be properly placed and the responsible officers (deck and engine) should take care of their correct maintenance:

2. Fire extinguishers should always be kept in full. This means that as

soon as fire extinguishers are emptied, they are immediately be

refilled. Consequently, adequate space charges should be

provided on board.

Fire hoses are used only for fire drills. Their use for any other purpose is prohibited. Nozzles are always coupled to the hoses for immediate use.

The fixed fire-extinguishing system of each vessel is to be maintained in good condition and ready for immediate use.

All fire hydrant valves are to be clearly labeled.

All officers are to be fully aware of the operation of the auxiliary fire pump which is to be tested once a week.

Abandonship Training and Drills

A training manual complying with Chapter III Regulation 51 of the SOLAS Convention shall be provided in each messroom and recreation room or in each crew cabin.

Each member of the crew shall participate in at least one abandonship drill and one fire drill every month.

On ship engaged in domestic voyage, a muster of the passengers shall take place within 24 hours of their embarkation.

In ship engaged in short international voyages, a muster of the passengers shall be held upon departure, otherwise, the attention of the passengers shall be drawn to the emergency instructions.

required by SOLAS Chapter III, Regulation 8.2 and 8.4.

Survival Craft Drills

Arrangements for drills should taken into account of prevailing weather conditions.

Crew members taking part in life raft drills should master wearing warm outer clothing and lifejackets.

Whenever appropriate, the lowering gear and chocks should be inspected and a check made to ensure that all working parts are well lubricated.

When turning out davits or when bringing boats or rafts inboard under power, seamen should always keep clear of any moving parts.

The engines on motor lifeboats should be started and run ahead and astern. Care should be taken to avoid overheating the engine and propelle, shafts stern gland. All personnel should be familiar with the engine starting procedure.

Hand-operated mechanical propelling gear, if any, should be examined and similarly tested.

Radio equipment should be examined and tested, with the aerial erected by the Radio Officer or another trained person and the crew instructed in its use.

Survival Craft Drills cont.

Water spray system, where fitted, should be tested in accordance with the lifeboat manufacturers instructor.

When a drill in held in port, as many lifeboats as possible should be cleared and swung out. Each lifeboat should be launched and maneuvered in the water every month as far as it is reasonable and practicable. The interval between such drills should not exceed three months. Where launching of free-fall lifeboats is impracticable, they may be lowered into the water provided that they are free-fall launched of at least one every six months.

When rescue boats are carried and are not lifeboats, they should be launched and maneuvered in the water every month as far as it is reasonable and practicable. The interval between such drills should not exceed three months.

Where simultaneous off-load/on-load release arrangements are provided, great care should be exercised to ensure that the hooks are fully engaged before the boat is recovered after it has been stowed prior to launching.

Where davit-launched life rafts are carried, then on-board training, including inflation must be carried out at intervals not exceeding four months. Great care should be taken to ensure that the hooks are properly engaged before taking the weight on the raft. The released mechanism should not be cocked until just prior to the landing in the water. If the raft used for the inflation is part of the ships statutory equipment and not a special training raft, then it MUST be repacked at an approved service station.

Where the handle of the lifeboat winch would rotate during the operation of the winch, it should be removed before the boat is lowered on the brake or raised with an electric motor. If a handle cannot be removed, the personnel should keep well clear of it.

Survival Craft Drills cont.

The personnel in a rescue boat of survival craft being lowered should remain seated, keeping their hands inside the gunwale to avoid them from being crushed against the ships side. Lifejackets should be worn. In totally enclosed lifeboats, seat should be secured. Only the launching crew should remain in a lifeboat being raised.

During drills, life buoys and lines should be readily available at the point of embarkation.

While crafts are in the water, the crews should practice maneuvering the vessel by oar, sail or power as appropriate and should operate the water spray system where fitted on enclosed lifeboats.

Seamen should keep their fingers clear of the long-link when unhooking or securing blocks on to lifting hooks while the boat is in the water, and particularly if there is a swell.

Before craft in gravity davits are recovered by power, the operation of the limit switches or similar devices should be checked.

A portable hoist unit used to recover a craft should be provided with a crunch or have an attachment to resist the torque. These should be checked. If neither device is available, the craft should be raised by hand.

Where life rafts are carried, instructions should be given to the ships personnel in their launching, handling and operation. Methods of boarding them and the disposition of equipment and stored of them should be explained.

The statutory scale of lifesaving appliances must be maintained at all times. If the use of a life raft for practice would bring equipment below the specified scale, a replacement must first be made available.

EMERGENCY STEERING DRILLS

Aside from the routine checks and tests prescribed in regulations 19-2 of SOLAS; Safety of Navigation, Emergency Steering Drills shall take place at least once every three months in order to practice emergency steering procedures. These drills shall include direct control from within the steering drill compartment, the communications procedures with the navigating bridge and, where applicable, the operation of alternative power supply. The date upon which the tests and details of emergency drills are carried out shall be recorded in the official ships logbook.

Man-Overboard Maneuvers

Practice has shown that different man-overboard maneuvers may be required depending upon the prevailing situation and the type of ship involved.

The effectiveness of the maneuvers described below have been proven in many man-overboard casualties, including the following situations:

Immediate action situation

Casualty is noticed on the bridge and action is initiated immediately.

Delayed action situation

Casualty is reported to the bridge by an eye witness and action is initiated with some delay.

Person missing situation

Person is reported to the bridge as missing

When a ship makes full speed ahead, the following three standard maneuvers are used:

Single turn (270 maneuver)

Rudder hard over (in an immediate action situation, only to the side of the casualty).

After deviation from the original course by 250, rudder to midship position and stopping maneuver are to be initiated.

2. Williamson turn

Rudder hard over (in an immediate action situation, only to the side of the casualty).

After deviation from the original course by 60 rudder hard over to the opposite side.

When heading 20 short of opposite course, rudder to midship position and ship to be turned to the opposite course.

3. Scharnow turn (not to be used in an immediate action situation)

Rudder hard over.

After deviation course by 240, rudder hard over to the opposite side.

When heading 20 short of opposite course, rudder to midship position so that ship will turn to opposite course.

Assessment of the maneuvers described under in relation to the types of situation described under:

1. Immediate action situation

SINGLE TURN will take the ship back to the scene of the casualty most quickly.

WILLIAMSON TURN requires more time and will temporarily take the ship farther away from the scene of the casualty.

SCHARNOW TURN is not appropriate.

2. Delayed action situation

WILLIAMSON TURN will take the ship to the scene of the casualty most surely. (When the ship has reached the maneuver commencement point, search speed must be reduced so as to enable fast stopping.)

SCHARNOW TURN cannot be carried out effectively unless the time elapsed between the occurrence of the casualty and the commencement of the maneuver is known.

3. Person mossing situation

Both WILLIAMSON TURN and SCHARNOW TURN will take the ship back into her wake. Less distance is covered, and thus time is saved, when carrying out SCHARNOW TURN. When the ship is on opposite course after carrying out SCHARNOW TURN, the maneuver commencement point will be some ships lengths behind her stern. Depending on the type of ship involved, between one and two nautical miles may be saved.

Report by:

Laquiores, Ginel

Dolendo, Jumar

Abrasosa, Niel

Guanga Ernie John

Reyes, Ronald L

Estrada, Henry

Colocar, Doane

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