Working at Height

Workbook
Date: 30/09/2020
 PC-TC- 2288–
Ocean Learning Platform (OLP) 3.0/25.11.2020

Contents

1. Workbook – Working at height ___________________________________________ 1

Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
How can we prevent accidents when working at height -------------------------------------------------------- 1
Preparation before work at height ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
How can we reduce the number of accidents? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2

2. Questions ________________________________________________________________ 3

3. Document status _________________________________________________________ 5

4. Changes in the document ________________________________________________ 5

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1. Workbook – Working at height

Introduction falling inside a ballast tank, cargo hold or

A young seafarer enters a dark cargo hold a cargo tank can be as high as or even
and starts to climb down the first ladder. higher than above deck. The work
This is the last inspection of the cargo environment and structural arrangements
holds he is doing before going home on on board a vessel can be very challenging
leave. He is exited to come home and and if we add weather conditions,
meet his two children. Half way down the slippery surfaces and motion to all this it
ladder he slips and fall, he falls 16 is easy to understand that the potential
meters… for accidents are high.

Falling from a height is one of the most International maritime regulations do not
common causes of death and injury of contain many specific requirements for
seafarers despite the effort to ensure safe working at height despite it being one of
working conditions for those onboard the most common causes of death and
ships. injury of seafarers, but the ISM code
requires that risks associated with all
There will always be risks involved when work tasks onboard must be assessed
working at height but to be able to before a job is started. There are also
reduce the number of these incidents and other guidelines for work at height which
accidents we must focus on a strong can be found in “Code of Safe Working
safety culture. Ship-owners and ship Practices for Merchant Seamen” (COSWP)
operators must make sure procedures and ILO’s “Code of practice for accident
and regulations for reduction of prevention onboard ship at sea and in
occupational health and safety risks are port”.
put in place and followed. Crew members
must focus on their own safety and The Australian Maritime College (AMC)
understand that others onboard may be carried out a study on height safety. The
affected by their activities. control measures currently found
onboard are the vessels Safety
Management system, work-permit
procedures and training of seafarers. But
How can we prevent accidents
the study unveiled that procedures are
when working at height not always followed and short cuts are
Work at height requires proper planning, sometimes taken.
risk assessment, correct equipment,
supervising, and competent personnel. Improving the SMS and implement
procedures will reduce the risks of
Working at height is often associated with working at height but it starts with
working in a mast or a crane or outside building a strong safety culture.
the superstructure. We often forget that
work inside a cargo tank or cargo holds Many associate building a safety culture
also includes work at height and not only with implementing policies, procedures,
work in an enclosed space. The risk of

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behaviours and practices, but it is more good lighting, permanent or temporary

than that. guard rails and of course all personal
protection equipment that is needed.
To build a strong safety culture there
must be a clear leadership and
Personal competence and
prioritization of safety. Leaders onboard
experience
must promote safety, communicate
Only competent and qualified personnel
clearly, and motivate the crew to make
should be allowed to do work at height.
safety a priority. The AMC’s study identify
that safety culture depends on the
attitude of the vessels officers. If the Emergency planning
officers are strict about safety the crew You must take into account the possibility
will follow. of an emergency occurring. Any person
may need to be rescued and there may be
reasons that normal rescue equipment
Preparation before work at
cannot be used.
height
You should avoid work at height where it Make sure the equipment itself is in
is reasonably practicable to do so. Where good condition
work at height cannot be avoided you
All equipment, both personal safety
must at least do the following:
equipment and other equipment or tools
used must be inspected and used
Familiarize yourself with the job according to manufactures instructions
site and/or industry guidelines
You must know the layout of the working
area, if not it is impossible to do a proper
risk assessment. Make sure you identify How can we reduce the
strongpoints for safety harnesses and number of accidents?
places to place guard rails if needed. You As you now have learned in two Learning
should always strive to make sure there Films and this workbook it is possible to
always are physical barriers to prevent reduce the number of accidents related to
falls. working at height if we take all aspects
and issues with these jobs seriously. We
Assess the risk must ensure that all work at height is
Get an overview of all dangers and adequately supervised, personnel are
hazards associated with the job. For a trained, workload and fatigue are
simple job you should carry out a risk managed and safety is prioritized. Further
assessment and a Tool-box talk. For more we must follow procedures, use safety
complex jobs you may have to divide the equipment, carry out risk assessments,
job into several steps and do separate and understand the risks with working at
risk assessments and Tool-box talks for height. If we do so working at height will
each step. be safer!

Protective measures
Protection measures at the work place
could typically be to make sure you mark
potential hazards at the work place, have

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distributed, edited or reproduced without written permission of Ocean Technologies Group.
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2. Questions

All questions and exercises are marked with a score; to get full score try to answer all
questions as comprehensive as possible. All questions must be answered and a score of
75% is required to pass the course.

Question 1 (2 marks)
Accidents with dropped objects often happen because of carelessness. Describe which
measures you would take to prevent accidents caused by carelessness.

Question 2 (2 marks)
Explain how you can protect yourself and others from being hit and injured by a dropped
object?

Question 3 (2 marks)
What considerations must be done before you can determine whether a job is work at
height or not?

Question 4 (2 marks)
What is done on board to ensure that all personnel has the required training and skills
before they can do work at height.

Question 5 (2 marks)
How many types of fall arrest systems do you have on board and how do you ensure that
they are used correctly?

Question 6 (2 marks)
Describe how you will inspect the fall arrest system and other personal protective
equipment before you start a job at height.

Question 7 (2 marks)
What types of portable access equipment (ladders, steps, scaffolding etc.) are carried on
your vessel?
Are they always used and secured correctly?

Question 8 (2 marks)
To ensure an efficient rescue operation if an accident occur you should have a rescue
plan made before the work at height starts. Which factors must be considered when
making the rescue plan?

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Question 9 (5 marks)
Who is responsible for carrying out a risk assessment for work at height on board?
Mention some of the risks that are present when you work at height.

Question 10 (2 marks)
What does your Safety Management System say about work at height?

Question 11 (5 marks)
Describe the safety culture on board and what could be improved?

Question 12 (5 marks)
Despite we know that there are risks involved when working at height, work at height is
one of the most common causes of death or injury on ships today. Do we need more
rules, regulations and procedures or is the root cause for these accidents something
else?

Question 13 (10 marks)

Give a detailed description how you would prepare for work at height on board your
vessel.

As an example, explain the process if you have to plan and carry out a job in the top of
the radar mast.
Is there any general requirements, must there be work planning and risk management
involved, is there any procedures (company or other) or processes involved, what kind of
protection systems will be used?, etc.

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distributed, edited or reproduced without written permission of Ocean Technologies Group.
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3. Document status
Issue no. Date Author
A 28.03.2017 AB

A1 16.08.2018 AB

B1 10.01.2019 AB

3.0 25.11.2020 IG

4. Changes in the document

Issue no. Paragraph no. Description

A1 1.7 Updated text

4 Updated evaluation form

B1 Section 3 Updated workbook questions

3.0 New Ocean TG course template. Split procedure and

workbook, changed version numbering

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This document is submitted in confidence and contains proprietary information, which should not be
distributed, edited or reproduced without written permission of Ocean Technologies Group.