Mid West Ports Authority4.6 Working On, Over Or Near Water

MID WEST PORTS AUTHORITY4.6 WORKING ON, OVER OR NEAR WATER

4.6 WORKING ON, OVER OR NEAR WATER

1.0INTRODUCTION

This document outlines the requirements for working on, over or near water. For the purpose of this document, “near” water is defined as working in close proximity to water where there is a reasonable likelihood of falling in.

SCOPE

This procedure applies to:

• MWPAemployees at all times and in all work locations; and
• Contractors working within the commercial harbour area or undertaking work under the control of MWPA.

1.0BACKGROUND

1.1The major hazards associated with working, on, over or near water are: falling into the water, slips/trips falls and environmental/climatic conditions.

1.2Activities at the Geraldton Port that require work onwater may includepilotage, operation of water craft, working in a work basket suspended by crane, pile driving operations and working in an elevatedwork platform (EWP) above water. The relevant manager or supervisor is to ensure that a procedure or a Job Safety Environment Analysis (JSEA) is in place for operations on water.

2.0GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

2.1An automatically inflatedpersonal flotation device (PFD) Level 150must be worn where there is a risk of falling into the water. Where the risks associated with wearing a PFD outweigh the risks of not wearing one, alternate measures can be implementedin lieu of wearing a PFD provided the person is not working alone. This must be approved by the supervisor or manager and documented, for example in a JSEA.

2.2A yellow delineation line is painted on the ground on all berths. If personnel are working onthe water side of the the yellow line then they are required to wear a PFD unless section 4.1 applies.For brief visual inspections near the wharf edge, where there is little to no risk of falling into the water, a PFD is not required, provided the person is not working alone.

2.3A rescue buoy (life ring) should be available not more than 25m from the location of work. Other appropriate equipment to facilitate water retrieval is to be available based on the risks of the job and the location.

2.4Where maintenance work is conducted over water, the following hierarchy of controls applies:

1. Where possible, the risk of falling into the water is to be eliminated or at least minimised by conducting the work on land and then installing in position over water.
2. Where work must proceed on or near wateredge,fall protection will be used where possible.
3. Work from a work basket where scaffolding is not feasible or the task is of a short duration.
4. Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as fall restraint/ fall arrest and PFD, giving consideration to individual risks associated with the task being performed.

2.5Under the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996, “Construction work” undertaken in, over or adjacent to water or other liquids if there is a risk of drowning is considered to be “high risk construction work” and a Work Method Statement (such as a JSEA) is mandatory.

2.6A Work Afloat permit is required for any activities undertaken either over the face of a berth, under a berth, on the water in the basin or on the water in the channel, and utilising any vessel, pontoon, floating platform or barge as a means of transport and working platform. Refer to Procedure 4.1 Permit to Work System.

2.7When working where there is a risk of falling into the water:

• Job planning is required e.g.procedure, permit to work and/or JSEA.
• A sentry should be present where possible.
• A suitable method of communication (verbal/radio) between personnel working near the edge and personnel working away from the edge.
• Consider environmental conditions prior to commencing work; where possiblework on or near water should not be conducted in windy or wet conditions, or if there is significant swell/surge in the harbour.

2.8When a vessel works inside the Commercial Harbour it is the responsibility of the master of the vessel to ensure that the “R” flag (positioned at the entry to the Work boat pens) is raised and locked into the upright position while working afloat. The lockbox cabinet is located at the base of the flag. The flag is to be raised and locked into the upright position with the use of the hasps and a padlock. There is to be aninformation tag placed onto the padlock which clearly shows the Masters Name, their contact number and the Permit number under which they are working. If the flag is already raised the master is to ensure that they place an additional padlock and information tag onto the hasp. The tag must show all of the above details. The key to the padlock is to be kept by the master of the vessel.

2.9For works in the Commercial Harbour it is the responsibility of second or subsequent permit holder Masters to contact parties whose tags are already attached to the raised flag. Clarification can be sought by contacting the Harbourmasters office on VHF 11 or by calling 99640505.

2.10When works have been completed for the day the master of the vessel is to ensure that the padlock and information tag are removed from the hasp. If theirs is the last padlock to be removed they must lower and stow the flag. The padlock, key and Hasp are to be placed back into the lockout cabinet. If the lock is not removed the master will be contacted and required to return to the port in order to remove the lock from the hasp.

2.11The requirements for formal working afloat approval can be expedited for members of the maintenance team for short duration tasks or short notice working afloat tasks these tasks are listed in 4.1The Maintenance Supervisor or acting Maintenance Supervisor can call the Duty Pilot or Ships Scheduler and verbally request approval for the work afloat. They are to explain the nature of the task, location and duration. If approval is given they must send an email to the harbour master’s email address () and the Wharf Supervisors are to be copied in to the email ().This email must explain the nature of the task, location and durationof works. The requirements for the personnel working afloat remain the same as is set out in “requirements checklist” of the working afloat / dive permit. Upon this approval the Maintenance team can proceed with their tasking.

2.12Short duration working afloat tasks for the maintenance team:

a.Move Barge

b.60 min tasks

c.Short notice tasks

3.0Working Suspended Above Water

3.1MWPA has an exemption from the requirement to wear a harness when working over water in a work box or EWP. Refer to Procedure 2.33 Working at Heights for details.

4.0MWPA Vessels and Licence Requirements

4.1Vessels must be in survey, survey exempt (EX) or registered as survey-exempt (C-survey exempt).

4.2Regulation 10A of the WA Marine (Surveys and Certificates of Survey) Regulations 1983 allows for certain class 2 vessels to be survey exempt. These vessels must be less than 8 metres in length, not carry passengers and not operate further than 5 nautical miles off the mainland. Other conditions also apply including the vessel must be registered and carry prescribed safety equipment. MWPA has a number of vessels that have been exempted – refer to class 2E vessels in Table 3.

4.3‘Passengers’ are defined under the National Standard for Commercial Vessels as “any person other than: the master and other members of the crew; a person designed as special personnel or a child under one year of age.”

4.4‘Special personnel’ are defined under the National Standard for Commercial Vessels as: “all persons who –

(a)have knowledge of safety procedures and handling of safety equipment on board;

(b)are not passengers, or members of the crew, or children under one year of age;

(c)are carried on board in connection with the special purpose of that vessel, or because of special work being carried out aboard that vessel; and

(d)are able bodied.”

4.5‘Smooth Waters’ (sheltered waters) for Geraldtonare defined in Schedule 1 of the WA Marine (Certificates of Competency and Safety Manning) Regulations 1983 as “South of the West Breakwater and south of the parallel of the East Breakwater Light.” Refer to the published Department of Transport drawing located at Attachment A.

4.6All vessels must be fitted with the required safety equipment – refer to the WA Department of Transport ‘Application for Registration of a Survey Exempt Vessel’ for equipment requirements. Different equipment requirements apply for smooth waters compared with unprotected waters.

4.7Commercial vessels can be classified into four different categories as follows:

Table 1 – Vessel Class

Class 1 / Passenger vessels, i.e. vessels carrying more than 12 passengers,
Class 2 / Trading vessels, i.e. Tugboats, barges, vessels that may carry up to 12 passengers,
Class 3 / Fishing vessels,
Class 4 / Hire and drive vessels.

They are also classified by their area of operation, as follows:

Table 2 – Operational Areas

"A" Area / An Unlimited area of operation,
"B" Area / Offshore operations to 200 nautical miles of the coast,
"C" Area / Restricted offshore operations within a range of 30 nautical miles from "D" area waters or mainland coast,
"D" Area / Operations within gazetted partially smooth waters,
"E" Area / Operations within gazetted smooth waters (generally inland waters).

4.8Table 3 lists the minimum licence requirements to operateMWPA vessels:

Table 3 – Vessel Licence/Competency Requirements

MWPA Vessel / Class / Vessel Length / Permitted to operate this vessel if:
Restricted Coxswain / Coxswain / Master Class 5 Trading
Pilot Boat / 1 / No / No / Yes
Pile Driving Barge (Thor) / Currently out of service / 18 m / No / Yes
Enviro Boat / 2E / 7.10 m / Yes with conditions – see clause 4.10 below / Yes
Flat Bottom Punt / 2E / 5.45 m / Yes with conditions – see clause 4.11 below / Yes only within 15nm of the mainland coast
Flat Bottom Punt / 2E / 4.85 m
Rigid Inflatable / 2E / 4.28 m
Barges / 2E / 6.0 m

4.9A Restricted Coxswain certificate of competency legally entitles the holder to operate a Survey Exempt vessel of less than 8 metres in length, less than 5 nautical miles from the mainland without passengers. However, the MWPA Harbour Master has determined for safety reasons thatthe restrictions outlined in Table 3 apply.

4.10Enviro Boat Conditions: Unless otherwise exempted in writing, the following additional limitations apply to operation of the Enviro Boat by the holder of a Restricted Coxswain:

(a)enviro boat may only be operated within the area shown on drawing at Attachment B;

(b)sea state must be less than 2 metres measured on the AWAC;

(c)wind must not be over 20 knots;

(d)work may only be conducted within hours of daylight; and

(e)work must not involve diving or other work where personnel are required to enter the water.

4.11Punts and barges may only be operated within Geraldton smooth waters unless otherwise exempted by the Harbourmaster in writing, for example in special one off circumstances such as working on a navigation beacon. In this case it may be that another vessel escorts or tows the punt to its location. Punts and barges must have a Marine Band VHF radio on channel 11 when moving between the Main Harbour and the FBH.

4.12At any time during a dive operation being conducted from a MWPA vessel, unless at the discretion of the Harbour Master, a Master Class 5 is the minimum required certification. Dive operations being solely conducted by contracted companies on behalf of the MWPA are required to meet the minimum DoT vessel skipper requirements.

5.0Personal floatation device

5.1It is the responsibility of the user to inspect the device for signs of wear and deterioration and remove the device from service if appropriate as per training requirements.

5.2It is the responsibility of the user to ensure the device is within the annual service date.

5.3It is the responsibility of user’s manager/supervisor to arrange for the device to be serviced annually. Servicing of the PFD is to be carried out by a Manufacturer approved service agent.

6.0Emergency Response

6.1In the event of person/s falling into the water:

• Make sure that the person is conscious and that their PFD has inflated.
• If conscious assist the person to the nearest man overboard ladder and/or throw them a life buoy if required.
• If person has fallen overboard during a vessel movement advise Pilot, tugs and Pilot Boat. If there is a risk of injury from vessels the Pilot may have to take action to prevent it.
• If unconscious consider having someone enter the water to provide assistance (ensure the rescuer has a PFD on and is a capable swimmer).
• Consider deploying dinghy or similar to assist.
• Provide first aid assistance and if necessary call for ambulance on 000.
• Raise the alarm verbally, by radio or port emergency number as necessary.
• Report the incident to the Harbour Master and enter into STEMS.

7.0ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS

Form F4.1 Work afloat & Dive Permit

Form F1.7L Job Safety & Environment Analysis

Procedure 2.33 Working at Heights

Procedure 3.30 Wharfside Man Overboard Procedure

Procedure 4.1 Permit to Work System

8.0REFERENCES

Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984

Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996

Mines Safety and Inspection Act 2005

Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 2005

AS4758.1-2008 Personal flotation devices – General requirements

AS2261 – 1990 Rescue Buoys

AS2259 – 1996 General requirements for buoyancy aids

Department of Planning - Australian Maritime Training Centre

WA Marine (Certificates of Competency and Safety Manning) Regulations 1983

WA Marine (Life Saving Applicants, Fire Appliances and Miscellaneous Equipment) Regulations 1983

WA Marine (Surveys and Certificates of Survey) Regulations 1983

National Standard for Commercial Vessels – Part B General Requirements

9.0ADMINISTRATION

Custodian:HSEQ Manager and HarbourMaster

Approved:Peter Klein

Chief Executive Officer

30 May 2016

ATTACHMENT A

As published on Department of Transport website 6 March 2005

ATTACHMENT B

Declaration

I have read and understood “4.6 Working on, over or near water” Procedure

Date / Name / Signature

Uncontrolled when printed or in hard copyPage 1 of 9

V6 – 30 May 2016