MSC.1/Circ.1263

REVISED RECOMMENDATION ON SAFETY OF PERSONNEL DURING CONTAINER SECURING Operations

(9 June 2008)

 

 

1. The Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventieth session (7 to 11 December 1998) expressed serious concern at the dangers to personnel working at the top of containers during container securing operations, which result from container securing arrangements being located in difficult and dangerous locations, and approved the Recommendation on safety of personnel during container securing operations (MSC/Circ.886).

 

2. The Committee at its eighty-fourth session (7 to 16 May 2008) reiterated its concern at the dangers to personnel engaged in the operation of securing containers at deck level and approved the Revised Recommendation on safety of personnel during container securing operations, as set out in the annex.

 

3. Member Governments are invited to bring this Revised Recommendation to the attention of port authorities, containership owners, designers and all other parties concerned and to consider other positive measures to address this problem in port and when approving cargo securing arrangements, as appropriate.

 

4. This circular supersedes MSC/Circ.886 on Recommendation on safety of personnel during container securing operations.

 

Annex.

REVISED RECOMMENDATION ON SAFETY OF PERSONNEL DURING CONTAINER SECURING OPERATIONS

 

1. It has been noted that a number of fatal accidents to crew and dockworkers have involved falls from the top of containers during container securing and unsecuring operations. Although fall protection and fall arrest systems and equipment are available for use whenever container top work is involved, they are cumbersome and reduce the speed of loading and unloading operations of a ship, and thus of limited use and effect.

 

2. The conventional means of securing containers in non-cellular deck spaces are heavy and difficult to handle, resulting in accidents and non-fatal physical injuries. Newly developed equipment such as semi-automatic and dual function twistlocks are only partially effective in eliminating danger. They depend on the stacking height of containers on deck not exceeding four and require a safe work place on the quayside for their application or removal.

 

3. A safer environment for personnel involved in the securing of containers can be achieved by shipowners and ship designers focusing on the safety of container securement at the initial stages of the building of a ship, rather than relying on operational methods for this purpose after the ship is built. Such successful current design ideas include:

 

.1 Hatchless holds

 

These containership designs usually have cell guides to the full height of stowage and do not normally require container top working.

 

.2 Flexible boxship arrangements

 

These designs are involved on deck cell guides which can be altered in length to accommodate the different lengths of container currently used in the industry, e.g. 20, 30 or 40 feet.

 

.3 Deck cell guides

 

This usually means either "hatchless holds" or a hatchless ship, but designs exist with cell guides on deck but also with hatch covers. Although deck cell guides have a good safety and securement record, they can create operational inconvenience when loading the varying lengths of container that are commonly in use.

 

.4 Lashing frames

 

These are mobile personnel carriers by which lashing personnel work on the twistlocks without having to climb upon the container tops. These are often used from container gantries but are operationally more convenient when independent of the shore gantries so that lashing/unlashing can continue without interfering with, and causing delay to, the loading/unloading operation.

 

.5 Lashing platform