In SwedishRegulars
Rope ladders in poor condition
It has been noted internationally as well as nationally that rope ladders onboard ships are sometimes in poor condition.
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Asbestos in gaskets
Asbestos has been discovered in gaskets on a number of ships built in Turkey under commission from Dutch purchasers.
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Severe personal injury when mooring
A crewmember was so badly injured by a winch during mooring work that one of his legs had to be amputated.
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”We are each other’s work environment”
I do not believe anyone participating in the autumn SAN conference left there feeling unmoved. The day’s last speaker, Emilia Åhfelt Dimitriadis, talked about how she had been subjected to sexual harassment by her closest colleagues while she was a UN soldier in Kosovo.
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In the hope of legally binding noise limits
International noise regulations at sea involve many problems; partly because they are only recommendations, meaning that there is no obligation to follow the limits stated, and partly because the recommended values are far too generous.
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Engages others through his actions
Bo Lindgren, technical manager onboard Stena Jutlandica, has worked hard at introducing and maintaining systematic work environment activities on the shipping company’s vessels. He was awarded this year’s SAN prize for his efforts.
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Risks with electronic charts
The increased use of electronic charts has to some extent changed conditions in shipping. When used correctly, electronic equipment has the potential to make shipping safer, but not without introducing certain risks.
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Risk assessment - who is it good for?
Both Swedish and international regulations require that risks in our work environment onboard must be investigated and assessed. It is not unusual that cargo owners also make demands for risk assessment.
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Complicated systems cause errors
The annual MSSM conference on safety, health and environment onboard was held on 26-27 August in Nyborg, Denmark.
Much of the conference was about safety culture, and I will let Professor Sidney W. Dekker summarise:
”Parts fail, but systems drift into failure”.
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She wants structured inspections
More participation when international norms are written and more engagement when new ships are built. This is the way forward for long-term improvements to the work environment onboard according to Laila Danielsson, ship inspector at the Swedish Transport Agency in Göteborg.
After more than 15 years as an inspector at the Swedish Work Environment Agency, [...]
Replacement boat resulted in injury
A restaurant business in the archipelago had a boat for transporting its clients, but while this was in for inspection another boat was hired for the purpose. The replacement boat was not adapted for gangways and other devices that were designed for the original boat. Ordinary wooden pallets were used (of which one was damaged) [...]
Bank effect contri-buting factor in collision
A passenger ship was entering a canal and continued its passage after a passing a lock. Further ahead was a guest harbour for private boats. Beyond the harbour there was an old bridge abutment where the canal narrowed to about 14 metres. After leaving the lock the crew noticed that there was a sailing boat moored by the bridge abutment. Speed was reduced and the ship kept to starboard in the canal to clear the sailing boat.
Moulding of spelter sockets on wire ropes
During the inspection of a hoistable suspended deck on a RoRo ship it was discovered that the wire rope ends had started to slip out of the closed spelter sockets.
Leadership onboard – a challenge, with many involved
Working with leadership onboard a passenger ship is different from working with leadership in the office ashore. At the office the same manager arrives every day and exercises his leadership in his own special way. Among the officers onboard we have three people who share every post in order to put together the relief systems. [...]
Disagreement about resting time when STCW was pushed through
The midsummer diplomatic conference in Manila pushed through a revised version of the STCW on 25 June (standards of training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers 1978, as amended in 1995 and 1997).
In 2006 the IMO decided to revise the STCW and after a number of meetings, workgroups and correspondence groups, the final result has now [...]
The parts and the whole
In recent years, however, the concept of work environment has undergone a healthy development. The realisation has spread that it is about so much more than the issues focused on earlier; it is now widely accepted that the work environment encompasses people as a whole and how we feel.
Year of Seafarer
2010 has been declared the Year of Seafarer by the UN safety organ IMO (International Maritime Organization). Ashok Mahapatra, manager of the section for Maritime Education and human resource issues at the IMO headquarters in London, says that the main reason for this declaration is to direct attention to the world’s one and a half [...]
Tank explosion during loading of oil
When a mate was loading vacuum gas oil on a cold winter evening an alarm was heard, indicating high pressure in one of the two tanks which were being filled. After the alarm had been noted, the watch seaman was sent out to check whether the pressure relief valve was working. Since he saw gas streaming out of it, the seaman assumed that the valve was working, which he told to the mate.
Faulty reconstruction lead to overfilling
When the ship was refueling it became apparent that it had been overfilled and oil ran out from the starboard side. Filling was immediately stopped and all necessary measures were taken. The relevant authorities were contacted and cleaning was initiated, but despite these measures approximately 600 litres of diesel oil ran out.
Broadband radar does not fulfil requirements
A new type of radar called broadband radar, mainly intended for leisure boats and smaller ships, has been launched on the market. This type of radar differs from traditional radar in that it transmits continuously and not in pulses. It is not compatible with radar beacons and transponders, and does not show racon signals or SART signals (signals from life rafts, for example).
