Purpose
This safety alert aims to raise awareness of the risks involved with getting on and off vessels.

Safe access to vessels
Accessing a vessel while at berth is a routine activity and is sometimes taken for granted. The requirement for safe access can be overlooked, particularly where there are limited berthing options, or a vessel is only berthed for a short period. Failing to provide safe access can result in serious risk to people—even more so when bad weather or extreme tidal variation are thrown into the mix.

It is a legal requirement under the national law to provide safe access to a vessel. In addition to national law requirements, commercial vessels also need to address risks associated with falls under workplace health and safety regulations—including falls sustained getting on and off a vessel.

Managing access risks
1. Assess the risks
What are they? What could make them worse? What could happen to a person if things go wrong? How bad would the impact be?

2. Implement ways to control those risks
These might include:

  • Ensuring a ‘safe design’ gangway.
  • Limiting access in bad weather and if necessary, during extreme tidal variations.
  • Providing adequate lighting around the gangway at night to increase visibility.
  • Securing gangways clear of the wharf edge, or other potential hazards.
  • Including instructions on when and how to safely board the vessel—and when not to—in your crew safety inductions and signage. Under the general safety duties, crew and passengers must follow this instruction.
  • Encouraging your crew to report hazards associated with getting on and off the vessel.
  • Developing emergency procedures for possible incidents associated with access to the vessel i.e. falls, person overboard

Identifying, documenting and managing the risks will help you implement effective risk controls. These could include safe work procedures, regular inspection and maintenance of equipment, appropriate training, induction and supervision of crew. Document these risks and controls in your safety management system and review them periodically to make sure they are still relevant and practical.

Other factors influencing safe access
Time and resource pressures, poor equipment design and maintenance, and inadequate risk assessments can all impact safety when rigging access equipment.

Time and resource pressures
Rigging safe access is sometimes seen as a less important activity compared to other tasks when you berth. This can cause safe access arrangements to be rushed or overlooked. Ensure enough time is given so that rigging and retrieval is done properly, and is safe.

Wharf arrangements
When a vessel is alongside at a berth, the provision of safe access is a joint responsibility shared between the vessel and the provider of the berth. Often, it is poor wharf design that prevents landing a gangway, and this has a significant impact on the safety of access arrangements.

Communication
This is important in identifying obstacles to safe access. Items such as water/fuel manifolds, bollards, and electrical installations on the wharf side are common obstructions and are something to consider when allocating berths to vessels. Co-ordination between shore-side and the vessel’s crew can help to mitigate these issues.

Passenger vessel access
For passenger vessels, the provision of safe access needs to take into account that passengers may not be familiar with getting on and off vessels. The use of a single point of access may also facilitate headcounts.

Assess the risks of rigging access
Rigging or adjusting gangways, accommodation ladders, or other access methods involves a heightened level of risk of entanglement, falling from heights, or falling overboard. Hence, it is also important to conduct a risk assessment of the rigging, adjusting and derigging of access equipment, including the selection of appropriate equipment and secondary means of support.

Reminder
Providing safe access to the vessel is essential in ensuring that everybody remains safe when embarking and disembarking the vessel. Remember the following:

  • select the right access equipment
  • assess all risks
  • allow time for safe rigging
  • monitor the means of access to ensure it remains safe
  • include vessel access equipment in your maintenance plan.