HC Deb 06 April 1982 vol 21 cc276-8W
Mr. Trotter

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the progress made in protecting the safety and health of seafarers in their daily work.

Mr. Sproat

My Department has a long tradition of promoting safety at sea. This has mainly involved the safety and stability of the ship itself, its navigation, the competency of its crew and the provision of emergency safety equipment and adequate accommodation. However, more recently attention has been focused increasingly on protecting the seaman from the more direct risks associated with working and living aboard ship. Its importance is underlined by the fact that deaths resulting from casualties to ships are far outnumbered by deaths resulting from accidents to seafarers not involving the safety of the ship itself.

In 1977 my Department appointed a Steering Committee on the Safety of Merchant Seamen at Work. This committee comprised representatives of management and trade unions in the shipping industry and of the Health and Safety Executive under a Department of Trade chairman. Its report in 1978, which was unanimous, made 12 recommendations for Government action. All the recommendations have been accepted by the Government. The following list shows the regulations in force or in preparation and other relevant Department of Trade publications.

The steering committee recommended that my Department should have responsibility for the occupational safety of seafarers because their conditions of work differed from those ashore, and because of the close link between the safety of the ship itself and the safety of the man working and living aboard. The Department of Trade with its force of highly qualified surveyors over the years has promoted the safety of the ship in a responsible and impartial manner. It will act in a similar way in regard to occupational safety, and I intend that at least one surveyor in each main port should have particular responsibility for this work. The surveyors' role will be to encourage and monitor occupational safety, particularly through the safety officials aboard ships.

My Department is working closely with the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive. This liaison is partly to comply with another recommendation of the steering committee, that, having regard to the differing conditions on board ship and ashore, seafarers should enjoy, a level of protection which is no less than that afforded to workers ashore. It is also to ensure a sensible division of responsibilities between my Department and the Health and Safety Executive when ships are in port areas. Generally, the Department of Trade will ensure safe working conditions and procedures aboard the ship itself.

The pursuit of improved occupational safety will not end the regulations currently in the pipeline. I attach great importance both to the general training of all seamen and particularly to the training of safety officers and safety representatives. I therefore welcome the new training courses being introduced by the General Council of British Shipping and the National Union of Seamen for safety officers and safety representatives, respectively.

The accident reports to be made under the regulations to reveal the causes of accidents will be analysed to identify any new problems to which we may need to find a solution. To monitor this future work I am considering whether it might at an appropriate time be useful to reconvene the steering committee, or to set up an alternative form of joint advisory committee with both sides of the shipping industry and the Health and Safety Executive. We shall continue to depend on the wholehearted co-operation and commitment of the shipping industry, including the maritime trade unions, if we are to succeed.

Following is the list:

In force:

  • The Merchant Shipping (Code of Safe Working Practices) Regulations SI 1980 No. 686.
  • The Merchant Shipping (Means of Access) Regulations SI 1981 No. 1729.

In preparation:

  • The Merchant Shipping (Safety Officials and Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurences) Regulations.
  • The Merchant Shipping (General Duties) Regulations.
  • The Merchant Shipping (Protective Clothing and Equipment) Regulations.
  • The Merchant Shipping (Entry into Enclosed Spaces) Regulations.
  • The Merchant Shipping (Safe Movement about Ship and Safety Signs) Rgulations.
  • The Merchant Shipping (Lifting Appliances) Regulations.
  • The Merchant Shipping (Guarding Machinery) Regulations.

Published:

  • The Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seamen.
  • Personal Safety in Ships.
  • Recommended Code of Safety for Fishermen.
  • Fishermen and Safety.

To be Published:

  • Guidance Notes for Shipowners, Shipmasters, Employers of Crews, Safety Officers, Safety Representatives and Safety Committees.

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