Videotel reports that enclosed spaces continue to
claim the lives of too many seafarers
The constantly high number of deaths resulting from
entry into enclosed spaces on board vessels is of increasing concern to
maritime authorities. Despite much effort being put into formulating training
programmes and initiating legislation, experienced seafarers continue to die as
a result of forgetting or ignoring the most basic of rules.
Accident Files: Entry into Enclosed Spaces is a
new Videotel programme, available on DVD or VHS format, that sets out to
explore the main reasons why so many seafarers lose their lives in such tragic
circumstances. Based on real case studies, the programme shows how five highly
experienced seafarers lost their lives and how another almost suffered the same
fate because of that natural human instinct, to help as quickly as possible a
person in trouble. Videotel hopes that by distributing this programme, it will
make seafarers think much more seriously before entering enclosed spaces.
Captain Timothy Crowch, a former commercial airline
pilot who now works with organisations around the world in the development of
safety management systems, presents the programme. In so doing, he points out
that the airline industry has for many years endeavoured to understand the
factors that lead to human error; simply to attribute a death or injury to
human error and leave it at that is no longer acceptable, if it ever was.
Naturally, Videotel highlights the need to comply with
legislation such as the code for the Carriage of Bulk Cargoes, the IMDG Code,
and the Merchant Shipping Act. The need for an effective safety management
system on board - a requirement under the ISM Code - is also underlined.
This programme stresses the need for shared
responsibility. Ship owners and operators must not only design and implement
effective procedures that are relevant to actual shipboard operations, but they
must also make sure that training is thorough and similarly effective.
Perhaps most importantly though, this programme
recreates the deaths of five seafarers. Five deaths that actually happened.
Five deaths that could have been prevented.
In the first case, two crew members lost their lives
when they entered a forward locker that had never really been regarded as a
hazardous area. Consequently they took no precautions and died as a result. The
programme explains how unauthorised alterations to the bulk carrier's
ventilation systems, carried out months or perhaps years before, had created a
situation where air from the ship's holds could enter the locker.
Secured for heavy weather and carrying a cargo of damp
steel turnings that resulted in the oxygen levels in the hold falling to
dangerously low levels meant that the forward locker became a death trap. The
failure to follow basic procedures exacerbated the situation. The Master was
concerned about the amount of vapour coming off the cargo when it was being
loaded but accepted the assurances of others that it was okay rather than rely
on his own instinct and knowledge. The two seafarers who lost their lives had
not told anyone where they were going, presumably because they did not regard
the locker as a danger. And no one, over a lengthy period of time, had reported
the unauthorised alterations to the ventilation systems.
In the second incident, the three unfortunate crew
members had had their sleep disturbed because of a banging anchor chain. They
sought permission from the Master to investigate and two of them set off to
look into the problem, the third person remaining on the bridge. For reasons
that will never be known, no effort appeared to have been made to check oxygen
levels in the chain locker and the first individual passed out almost
immediately when he entered. The second man immediately radioed for help but
did not wait for help to arrive before entering the locker and suffering the
same fate.
The third man - who rushed to help his friends - also
let his heart overrule his head and without waiting for back up, put on a
Emergency Escape Breathing Device (EEBD) that was readily available rather than
'waste time' seeking out proper breathing apparatus. However, this did not help
him in his rescue attempt and unfortunately he also died in the chain locker.
It transpired that the crew of the vessel had had no training in the use of
EEBDs and therefore he may not have known that it offered just ten minutes of
normal breathing time and would be unable to cope with the demands of someone
engaged in strenuous activity.
A fourth death was narrowly averted too when the Chief
Officer, arriving on the scene, also began to enter the locker without
breathing apparatus. Fortunately, he realised as he started to descend that he
was struggling to breathe and managed to get back on deck just in time.
None of the men in these case studies were
inexperienced. Yet five died and one had a lucky escape. Videotel hopes
Accident Files: Entry into Enclosed Spaces will serve as a powerful lesson and
reminder to everyone to ensure proper and regular training is in place - it
could save a life.
Note to editors:
Photographs to accompany
this press release are available to download from the Dunelm website at:
http://www.dunelmpr.co.uk/Videotel-Photogallery-NEW.htm.
The caption reads:
"The constantly high number of deaths
resulting from entry into enclosed spaces on board vessels is of increasing
concern to maritime authorities. Despite much effort being put into formulating
training programmes and initiating legislation, experienced seafarers continue
to die as a result of forgetting or ignoring the most basic of rules."
To learn more about Videotel and its extensive range
of products, visit http://www.videotel.co.uk.
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