Merchant Shipping (Safety Officials and Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations, 1988

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 1988
• Citation: IR SI 110/1988

S.I. No. 110 of 1988.
MERCHANT SHIPPING (SAFETY OFFICIALS AND REPORTING OF ACCIDENTS AND DANGEROUS OCCURRENCES) REGULATIONS, 1988.
I, BRENDAN DALY, Minister for the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on my by section 12 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1947 (No. 46 of 1947) and the Communications (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1987 ( S.I. No. 91 of 1987 ), hereby make the following Regulations:
	1 Citation, commencement, interpretation.	1. These Regulations may be sited as the Merchant Shipping (Safety Officials and Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations, 1988, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1988.
	2 ..	2. In these Regulations:—
"access" means the process of embarking on or disembarking from a ship from or to the quayside, by whatever means employed;
"Code" means the International Labour Office publication entitled "Accident prevention on board ship at sea and in port" published in 1978 by ILO Publications, Geneva, Switzerland, or alternatively, the United Kingdom Department of Transport publication entitled "Code of safe working practices for the merchant seamen" published in 1978 by HMSO, London;
"crew" means all persons, including the master, employed or engaged by the employer in any capacity on board a ship;
"dangerous occurrence" means any occurrence of a kind specified in the Schedule hereto;
"employer" means, as appropriate, the person, persons or organisation who own the vessel and are responsible for the equipment of the vessel or for the employment of the seafarers employed thereon;
"fishing vessel" means a vessel which is for the time being employed in sea fishing but does not include a vessel used otherwise 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 impairment 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;
( c ) amputation of a hand 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;
"Marine Notice" means a notice described as such and issued by the Department of the Marine;
"the Minister" means the Minister for the Marine;
"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 recreation;
"tanker" means a cargo ship constructed or adapted for the carriage in bulk of liquid cargoes of an inflammable nature.
Any reference in these Regulations to "the Code" shall include references to any document or documents amending the Code which are specified in the Marine Notice.
PART I Safety Officials
	3 Application.	3. This Part of these Regulations applies to all ships registered in the State other than non-sea-going ships, fishing vessels, and pleasure craft.
	4 Appointment and election of safety officials.	4. (1) In every ship to which this Part of these Regulations applies the employer shall appoint a safety officer to be responsible under the Master for accident prevention.
(2) In every ship to which this Part of these Regulations applies with more than 9 but less than 16 crew, the officers and ratings may elect one safety representative.
(3) In every ship to which this Part of these Regulations applies with more than 15 crew, one safety representative may be 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.
(4) In all ships in which a safety representative is elected, the employer shall appoint a safety committee which shall include the master as chairman, the safety officer and every safety representative.
(5) The employer shall make rules for the election of safety representatives.
(6) In every election for a safety representative the candidate receiving most votes shall be elected.
(7) No safety officer or safety representative shall be appointed or elected who has less than two years consecutive service since attaining the age of 18, which in the case of a safety officer or safety representative on board a tanker shall include at least six months service on such a ship.
(8) The appointment of every safety officer, safety representative and safety committee shall be recorded by the master in the official log book.
(9) The Minister may grant exemptions from the above provisions 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.
	5 Termination of appointment.	5. (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 appointment 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 another 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.
	6 Duties of safety officers.	6. It shall be the duty of the safety officer to use his best endeavours to ensure that the provisions of the Code and the employer's occupational health and safety policies are complied with, to improve the standard of safety consciousness among crew, and to—
( a ) investigate—
(i) every accident required to be notified under Regulation 11 (a) of these Regulations;
(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; provided that the duty to investigate shall not extend to accidents arising from a casualty to the ship;
( b ) investigate all complaints by crew members about occupational health and safety unless he has reason to believe that a complaint is of a trivial, frivolous or vexatious nature;
( 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, recommendations to the master and through him to the employer about any deficiency in the ship in respect of—
(i) any legislative requirement relating to occupational health and safety;
(ii) any relevant Marine Notice; or
(iii) any provision of the Code;
( 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, details of other investigations, complaints and inspections under paragraphs (b) and (c) of this Regulation and any representations and recommendations made under paragraph (d) above together...