Merchant Shipping (Safety Officials and Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 1986

Citation and interpretation

1 (1) These regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Safety Officials and Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 1986.

(2) In these regulations—

"access" means the process of embarking on or disembarking from a ship from or to the quayside, by whatever means em ployed;

"Bermuda ship" means a ship registered in Bermuda;

"Code of Safe Working Practices" means the Department of Trade of the United Kingdom publication entitled "Code of Safe Working Practices for the Safety of Merchant Seamen" pub lished in 1978 by Her Majesty's Stationery Office; any refer ence to the Code shall include references to any document amending the same which is considered by the Secretary of State to be relevant from time to time and notified in a Mer chant Shipping Notice;

"crew" means all persons, including the master, employed or en gaged by the employer in any capacity on board a ship;

"dangerous occurrence" means any occurrence of a kind speci fied in the Schedule;

"employer" means the person for the time being employing the master;

"fishing vessel" means a vessel which is for the time being em ployed in sea fishing but does not include a vessel used oth erwise than for profit;

"incapacitated from work" means, in the case of a member of the crew, unable to undertake the full range of duties normally undertaken, and in any other case means a comparable im pairment of the person's physical condition;

"major injury" means—

(a) fracture of the skull, spine or pelvis;

(b) fracture of any bone—

(i) in the arm other than a bone in the wrist or hand;

(ii) in the leg, other than a bone in the ankle or foot;

(d) the loss of sight of an eye; or

(e) any other impairment of a person's physical condition which results in the person injured—

(i) being admitted to hospital as an in-patient for more than 24 hours; or

(ii) if at sea, being confined to bed on board, and which would have resulted in admission to hospital for more than 24 hours as an in-patient if the ship had been in port;

"Merchant Shipping Notice" means a notice described as such and issued by the Department of Trade of the United King dom;

"non-sea-going ships" includes any ship, except a passenger ship, which normally remains within the seaward limits of a port or, if she goes outside those seaward limits, returns to her port of departure within 24 hours without having called at any other port;

"occupational health and safety" means the health and safety of the crew whilst on board the ship and whilst boarding or leaving the ship;

"pleasure craft" means a vessel primarily used for sport or recre ation;

"tanker" means a cargo ship constructed or adapted for the car riage in bulk of oil, chemicals or gas.

PART 1

SAFETY OFFICIALS

Application of Part 1

2 (1) This Part of these regulations applies to Bermuda ships in which a crew of more than five are employed, other than non-sea-going ships, fishing vessels and pleasure craft.

(2) This Part of these regulations shall not be construed as giving any person a right to inspect any place, article, substance or doc ument which is the subject of restrictions on the grounds of national se curity unless he satisfies any test or requirement imposed on those grounds by or on behalf of the Government.

Appointment and election of safety officials

3 (1) In every ship to which these regulations apply—

(a) the employer shall appoint a safety officer, and

(b) the officers and ratings may elect—

(i) in ships carrying fewer than 16 crew, one safety representative elected by the officers and rat ings;

(ii) in ships carrying more than 15 crew, one safety representative elected by the officers and

(A) one safety representative elected by the ratings, or

(B) in ships carrying more than 30 ratings, one safety representative elected by the ratings in each of the deck, engine and catering departments, general purpose ratings being regarded for this purpose as included in the deck department.

(2) The employer shall make rules for the election of safety rep resentatives.

(3) In every election for a safety representative the candidate receiving most votes shall be elected.

(4) No safety officer or safety representative shall be appointed or elected who has less than two years' consecutive sea service since at taining the age of 18, which in the case of a safety officer or safety repre sentative on board a tanker shall include at least six months' service on such a ship.

(5) In all ships in which a safety representative is elected, the employer shall appoint a safety committee which shall include the mas ter as chairman, the safety officer and every safety representative.

(6) The appointment of every safety officer, safety representa tive and safety committee shall be recorded by the master in the official log book.

(7) The Minister may grant exemptions from the above provi sions of this regulation for classes of cases or individual cases on such terms (if any) as he may specify in the exemption and may, subject to giving reasonable notice, alter or cancel any such exemption.

Termination of appointment

4 (1) The appointment of a safety officer or safety representative shall terminate—

(a) on that person ceasing to be employed in the ship;

(b) in the case of a safety officer, from the date his appoint ment is terminated by the employer;

(c) in the case of a safety representative, from the date of his resignation from that position or the election of an other duly elected person in his stead.

(2) The appointment of a safety committee may be terminated by the master when there is no longer a safety representative.

Duties of safety officers

5 It shall be the duty of the safety officer to use his best endeav ours to ensure that the provisions of the Code of Safe Working Practices and the employer's occupational health and safety policies are complied with, to improve the standard of safety consciousness among the crew, and to—

(a) investigate—

(i) every accident required to be notified under reg ulation 10(1);

(ii) every dangerous occurrence; and

(iii) all potential hazards to occupational health and safety;

and make recommendations to the master to prevent the recurrence of an accident or to remove the hazard: Pro vided that the duty to investigate shall not extend to ac cidents arising from a casualty to the ship;

(b) investigate all complaints by crew members about occu pational health and safety unless he has reason to be lieve that a complaint is of a frivolous or vexatious na ture;

(c) carry out occupational health and safety inspections of each accessible part of the ship at least once every three months or more frequently if there have been substantial changes in the conditions of work;

(d) make representations and, where appropriate, recom mendations to the master and through him to the em ployer about any deficiency in the ship in respect of—

(i) any legislative requirement relating to occupa tional health and safety;

(ii) any relevant Merchant Shipping Notice; or

(iii) any provision of the Code of Safe Working Prac tices;

(e) ensure so far as possible that safety instructions, rules and guidance are complied with;

(f) maintain a record book describing all the circumstances and detail of all accidents and dangerous occurrences (including the date, the persons involved and the nature of the injuries suffered) and containing all statements made by witnesses thereof, recommendations to prevent future similar accidents or dangerous occurrences, de tails of other investigations, complaints and inspections under paragraph (b) and (c) and any representations and recommendations made under paragraph (d) together with the outcome thereof;

(g) make the records kept under paragraph (f) available on request to any safety representative, to the safety com mittee, to the master and to the Department of Marine and Ports Services;

(h) stop any work which he reasonably believes may cause a serious accident, and immediately to inform the master or his deputy who shall be responsible for deciding when work can safely be resumed;

(i) carry out any occupational health or safety investigation or inspection required by the safety committee:

Provided that nothing in this regulation shall require a safety of ficer to take any action at a time when emergency action to safeguard

life or the ship is being taken.

Powers of safety representatives

6 A safety representative may—

(a) participate, subject to the concurrence of the safety offi cer, in any of the investigations or inspections carried out by the safety officer under regulation 5, or, after notification to the master or his deputy, undertake sim ilar investigations or inspections himself, whether or not such investigations or inspections have already been carried out by the safety officer;

(b) on behalf of the crew on matters affecting the occupa tional health and safety of the crew he represents—

(i) consult with the master, his deputy and the safety officer and make recommendations to them, including recommendations to the master that any work which the safety representative believes may cause an accident should be sus pended;

(ii) make representations through the master to the employer;

(iii) request through the safety committee an investi gation by the safety officer of any such matter;

Duties of safety committees

7 (1) It shall be the duty of the safety committee to use their best endeavours to ensure that the provisions of the Code of Safe Working Practices are complied with, to improve the standard of safety con sciousness among the crew, and to—

(a) make representations and recommendations on behalf of the crew to the employer on matters affecting the occu pational health and safety of the crew;

(b) inspect any of the records required by regulation 5 to be kept by the safety officer;

(c) ensure the observance of the employer's occupational health and safety policies and to make recommendations for their improvement;

(d) consider and take any appropriate action in respect of any occupational health and safety matters affecting the ship and its crew, reports of accidents on board the ship, Merchant Shipping Notices and other publications re lating to occupational health and safety issued by the Government or by safety organisations and similar bod ies, and any new legislation on occupational health and safety;

(e) keep a record of their deliberations, conclusions and any representations made to the master or his deputy, of the replies thereto and of any action resulting therefrom.

(2) In performing the duties set out above, a safety committee may require the safety officer to carry out any occupational safety in spection they consider necessary and to report his findings to them.

Duties of employer and master

8 It shall be the duty of the employer and master to facilitate the work of the safety officer, safety representatives and safety committee in carrying out their occupational health and safety functions, and in par ticular to—

(a) provide access to any necessary information, documents and similar material including any relevant legislation and Merchant Shipping Notices promulgated by the De partment of Trade in the United Kingdom;

(b) inform the safety officer, safety representatives and safety committee of any dangerous cargoes on board and of the dangers which may arise therefrom and of any hazards on board the ship known to them which may endanger the ship or her crew;

(d) permit occupational health and safety inspections of the whole or part of the ship;

(e) allow the safety officer and safety representatives such absence from ship duties without loss of pay as may be necessary to enable them to fulfil their functions, or to undertake any necessary training on board in the exer cise of their functions as safety officer or safety repre sentatives;

(f) display in a place where it may easily be read by any member of the crew a notice listing the names of the safety officer and safety representatives aboard;

(g) receive, at any reasonable time, representations about occupational health and safety from the safety officer, the safety representative or the safety committee, in cluding recommendations under regulation 6(b)(i) by a safety representative that certain work should be sus pended, discuss their representations with them and implement any agreed measures as soon as may be rea sonable and practicable;

(h) specify in writing the reasons for refusing to implement suggested occupational health or safety measures;

(i) provide to the safety officer, the safety representatives and the safety committee on request any relevant infor mation about accidents and dangerous occurrences to which regulation 5 applies;

(j) provide to the safety officer and safety representatives on request any information or plans necessary to enable them to undertake the investigations and inspections specified in regulations 5 and 6;

(k) arrange the election of a safety representative within three days of being requested to do so by any two per sons entitled to vote in such an election and give public ity to any such election.

Provided that the employer and master need not make available any information the disclosure of which would in their view be contrary, to the national interest.

PART 2

REPORTING OF ACCIDENTS AND DANGEROUS OCCURRENCES

Application of Part 2

9 This Part of these Regulations applies in relation to Bermuda ships other than fishing vessels and pleasure craft.

Notification of accidents and dangerous occurrences

10 The following shall be notifiable in accordance with regulation 11:

(1) every accident on board or during access to any person em ployed or carried in the ship which results in death or personal injury involving incapacity for more than three consecutive days excluding the day of the accident;

(2) any accident involving impairment of a person's physical condition if the person concerned is put ashore and the ship sails with out him, unless the incapacity is known or advised to be of three con secutive days or less, excluding the day of the accident;

(3) every dangerous occurrence on board or during access:

Provided that the requirements to notify shall not apply in re spect of any person employed—

(a) in Bermuda as a docker in any process in respect of which any regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1982 [title 18 item 10] apply;

(b) as a docker, shipbuilder, shiprepairer or diver in a country other than Bermuda to whom subparagraph (a) does not apply unless—

(i) such injured person is a member of the crew; and

(ii) in respect of a person mentioned in this sub-paragraph, the accident involved failure of the ship's equipment.

Reporting and investigation of accidents and dangerous occurrences

11 The following provisions shall apply in any case where there is an accident or dangerous occurrence which is required by regulation 10

to be notified—

(1) (a) the master, or if he is not available, the most senior offi cer available shall report every accident involving death or major injury as quickly as possible, and in any case not later than 24 hours after the arrival of the ship at its next port, to any proper officer;

(b) every such report shall include the name and official number of the ship, its position, the number of people involved in the accident and the injuries, details of any damage to the ship or its equipment or any defect in its equipment, and the next port of call and estimated date and time of arrival if at sea.

(2) In the case of a ship carrying a safety officer the master or, if he is not available, the most senior officer available shall, in addition to any report made under paragraph (1), report every accident and every dangerous occurrence by completing and signing a report in a form ap proved by the Minister and shall forward that report to the Department of Marine and Ports Services within seven days of the date of the acci dent or dangerous occurrence or, if the ship is at sea, within seven days of the ship's arrival at the next port of call.

(3) In the case of a ship carrying a safety officer the employer shall, in addition to any report made under paragraph (1), ensure that—

(a) the master or most senior officer available or the owner's representative ashore responsible for safety shall—

(i) investigate every accident and dangerous occur rence;

(ii) complete and sign a report of each such incident in a form approved by the Minister; and

(iii) forward that report to the Department of Marine and Ports Services within the time limits pre scribed in paragraph (2);

(b) the master or the owner's representative ashore respon sible for safety shall maintain a written record describ ing—

(i) all the circumstances and details of all such ac cidents and dangerous occurrences, (including the date, the persons involved and the nature of the injuries suffered);

(ii) all statements made by witnesses thereof; and

(iii) any recommendations to prevent future similar accidents or dangerous occurrences; and

Penalties

12 (1) Any employer who—

(a) fails to appoint a safety officer or a safety committee or to make rules for the election of safety representatives in accordance with regulation 3, or

(b) fails to carry out any of the duties specified in regulation 8, or

commits an offence punishable only on summary conviction:

Punishment on summary conviction: a fine of $1,000.

(2) (a) Any master who fails to carry out any of the duties spec ified in regulation 8, and

(b) any person required under regulation 11(l) or (2) to make a report who without reasonable excuse fails to make that report in accordance with that regulation or to for ward it as so required,

commits an offence punishable only on summary conviction:

Punishment on summary conviction: a fine of $500.

(3) Any safety officer who—

(a) fails to investigate an accident or dangerous occurrence in contravention of regulation 5(l)(a) or (b),

(b) fails to investigate complaints, in contravention of regu lation 5(2),

(d) fails to keep any records in contravention of regulation 5(6) or to make such records available to a safety repre sentative, a safety committee, the master or the Registry of Shipping, in contravention of regulation 5(7)(a),

commits an offence punishable only on summary conviction:

Punishment on summary conviction: a fine of $50.

(4) It shall be a defence for a person charged under this regu lation to show that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

Commencement

13 [omitted]

SCHEDULE Regulation 1(2)

NOTIFIABLE DANGEROUS OCCURRENCES

The following occurrences shall be notifiable as dangerous occurrences provided that they are not notifiable under these regulations as accidents and provided that they might have been liable, taking into account the circumstances of the occurrence, to cause major injury or to cause dam age to the health of any person—

(1) the collapse or overturning of any lift, hoist, crane, davit, derrick, ramp, mobile powered access platform, access equipment, stag ing or bosun's chair or failure of any load bearing part thereof;

(2) the explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel in cluding a boiler or boiler tube in which there was any gas (including air), any liquid or any vapour at a pressure greater than atmospheric pres sure.

(3) any electrical short circuit or overload resulting in fire or explosion;

(4) the sudden, uncontrolled release of highly flammable liquid, flammable gas or flammable liquid above its boiling point from any sys tem, plant or pipeline;

(5) the uncontrolled release or escape of any harmful sub stance or agent;

(6) either of the following occurrences in respect of any pipe-line, valve or any piping system in a ship—

(a) the bursting, explosion or collapse of a pipe-line or any part thereof excluding minor leaks in pipes carrying non-noxious substances; or

(b) the accidental ignition of anything in a pipe-line or of anything which, immediately before it ignited, was in a pipe-line.

(7) any contact with loose asbestos fibre except when full pro tective clothing is being worn;

(8) any collapse or significant movement of cargo;

(9) the failure or collapse of any hatch cover or hatch cover control wire or mechanism;

(10) any fall overboard;

(11) the parting of a towrope.

Bermuda Consolidated Legislation

Merchant Shipping (Safety Officials and Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 1986