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5. Personal Safety on Ships (1984) - TP 5021E
6. Working aloft & outboard

Working aloft & outboard

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Safe Working Practices Regulations, Sections 47-53.

Every year there are serious and often fatal accidents involving falls from stages, bosun's chairs, portable ladders, and other working places aloft. You should get into the habit of wearing a safety device. When working outboard or overside, you should also wear some form of personal buoyant device. When coming back on board avoid the temptation to “ride the hoist”. Use a Jacob's ladder, gangway, or accommodation ladder.

Take care to avoid risks to anyone working or passing below. Make sure that tools and stores are sent up and lowered by line in suitable containers, or wear a tool belt.

If working aloft near the funnel, whistle, radio antenna or radar scanner, make sure that the persons in charge of these items know that you are there, so that they can isolate this equipment from the power source to prevent risk.

Ropes

Before working aloft, always inspect and test all rope, whether a safety lifeline, gantline or stage rope. Your life could depend on it!

Many types of artificial and natural fibre ropes are used on ships. All are affected, and some seriously weakened by contaminating substances such as rust removers, bleaches, oils, solvents and detergents. Take care to minimize exposure to these agents.

It also is important to select the right type of rope for the job. Further guidance is given in “The Code of Safe Working Practices” and in the manufacturers' literature.

Cradles and Staging

The modern cradle-type stages are safest because they have permanent guard rails. When using an ordinary plank stage, you should ensure that the materials are strong enough for the job and free from defect. The standard method of rigging the stage is shown below. Before lowering or raising a stage, make sure that other persons on the stage are informed, that the movements are closely controlled, and that safety lines are secured. When they are not in use, stow the stage or the planks in a dry ventilated space away from heat.

Bosun's Chairs

Always inspect the chair and gantline before use. When using a chair for riding topping lifts or stays, make sure that the bow of the shackle, and not the pin, rides on the wire. In any case, seize the pin. Use only your hands, never a winch, to haul a person aloft in a bosun's chair.

Portable Ladders

If you have to work from a ladder, it should rest on a firm base and be secured as close as possible to its uppers resting place. Make sure it is in good condition before use. Use both hands for climbing; carrying tools in a belt or haul them up on a line as with other materials and equipment. It's easy to overreach while working on a ladder; take care that you don't lean out too far and overbalance.

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Date modified:

2010-01-19

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