Useful Ideas from the Club's Ships
When visiting Members' ships the five ship inspectors employed by the Club often observe good and useful ideas, which may save time but also show good practice for that vessel. Not all the ideas featured may be practical for every type of ship, but they may nevertheless be of interest to many Members.
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| Taped Off Working Areas | Back to top ^^ |
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Inspectors found that when work was undergoing on this ship, where restricted access to the area is preferred, hazard tape is erected to seal the area off. Crew have been known to relax regulations concerning barriers and notices when everybody onboard is familiar with the ship but examples like below should be encouraged. Click on an image to enlarge. | 
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| Portable SOPEP Storage | Back to top ^^ |
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 It has been seen on some vessels that in addition to the SOPEP locker, SOPEP equipment is being stored in portable units secured on deck. The image (left) shows large units on a wheel base made onboard. Other methods seen include a set of wheelie bins labelled SOPEP and full of equipment. Storing equipment in a portable device will greatly improve the response time in an emergency that is located a distance from the SOPEP store. Click on the image to enlarge.
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| Retro-Reflective Door Handles | Back to top ^^ |
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Retro-reflective strips have been fitted around the door handles on cabin and exit doors on this passenger ship entered with the Club. The second picture shows a door without the retro-reflective strips, making the handle harder to see in smoke or darkness. Highlighting door handles is a good initiative and should be encouraged on all vessels.
Click on an image to enlarge. | 
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| Bridge Stairwell Gate | Back to top ^^ |
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Modern bridge design often incorporates a very steep stairwell to the bridge with the door at the bottom, leaving an open stairwell on the bridge. This is a bad design creating a high risk area. At night on the blackened bridge, or when the ship is rolling in heavy weather, this open stairwell could lead to a nasty fall.
It has been seen on some vessels that a wooden bar has been fitted to prevent someone falling down the stairwell but the inspectors were particularly keen when they saw the spring loaded gate fitted on this entered ship.
Although not restricted to the bridge stairwell, the Personal Injury claims department can report on ships' crew falling down stairwells. With the bridge being blackened at night, this can be considered a high risk area and a self closing gate a good preventative measure.
Click on an image to enlarge. | |
| Taping Doors When Loading Grain | Back to top ^^ |
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On visiting a ship loading grain, one of the Club's inspectors found that the crew onboard used this system to combat the problem of cargo dust entering the accommodation. The dust clouds produced from such cargoes may present a health hazard and it is wise to prevent it from entering the accommodation block.
Most accommodation hatches/doors can be dogged-down and will provide an air-tight seal, but other doors (particularly bridge doors) may not have dogs and allow the dust particles to get through. When loading this type of cargo, the crew on this particular ship would tape the necessary doors as illustrated in the images (left).
As well as taping the doors, the crew would also ensure a good filter on accommodation block vents.
Click on an image to enlarge. | |
| Stowaways in Ships' Rudder Housings | Back to top ^^ |
 
The Club has been made aware of several cases concerning stowaways hiding in ships' rudder housings (see Loss Prevention News
issue 17). The pictures below demonstrate how this ship combatted the problem by welding a gate to prevent access. Although reported successful, this method may not be suitable on ships where the rudder stock requires space for free movement.
The left image where sea water can be seen illustrates the conditions that stowaways would be subject to hiding in this location. | |
| Foot Operated Deadweight - E/R Sounding Pipes | Back to top ^^ |
The member of this ship has installed a system designed to combat a problem frequently seen by the Club's inspectors (for further ideas covering the same topic click here) and featured in the UK Club's Good & Bad Practice poster 16 (463kb pdf). In many cases the self-closing devices on the engine room sounding pipes are found to be lashed or even missing. | |
| Stowage Tubes on Deck | Back to top ^^ |
 
The ship above carries its own stainless steel flexible hoses, which are very expensive, in stowage tubes on deck. This is a good idea because it assists against factors such as:-
Damage protection - The expensive stainless steel flexible hoses can be correctly stowed without any kinks and ship's staff cannot walk on the pipes, therefore reducing damage.
Weather protection - In cold climates there's less chance of the stainless flexible hoses from freezing, hence easier handling by ship's staff and quicker connections to shore facilities. | |
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