Individual / Organisation name:DanniellaLarobina

What state/territory:

Review of the National Guidance Material for Working Safely on the Waterfront

Public Comment Response Form

Complete and submit this form by5pm AEST friDAY 10 AUGUSt 2012to

Comments on content of the national guidance material
Section/page no. / Comment
Comments on additional issues identified in section 4.2 of the Discussion Paper
Section/page no. / Comment
Hatchmen / We do need Hatchmen. Again and again, the findings from Marine incidents indicate human error as a contributing factor to the events that lead up to the incident and/or tragedy. All the procedures, i.e 'worlds best practice' and 20 page JHA's cannot eliminate the possibility of human error, misunderstanding or poor judgment. When it comes to working under loads and in confined spaces like hatches etc, it is imperative that we have dedicated personnel who's sole job is to be the 'eyes' observing everyone's safety. Removing the hatchmen and merging this position into a small part of a supervisor's role is not adequate or appropriate as they have too many other tasks underway to maintain a vigilant watch. We all want to go home to our families safely. A few years ago i was on a job where a welder was in a large pipe that was waiting to be lowered over the side of the vessel once the welding task was complete. As I understand it, he kept welding through lunch to get the job done under a tight schedule. Unaware of this situation, a master returned to the bridge after his lunch and calculated in his mind that the job should be finished, and that the pipe should be lowered. He removed the makeshift notice on the controls and proceeded to raise the pipe. The welder was still inside the pipe. With out the dedicated watch on deck, who notified the bridge to cease action, the welder would have been drown As I see it, removing hatchmen, is taking a step backwards. It would be a tragic to lose anymore lives, just to work this out. Regards DanniellaLarobina
Stevedoring qualifications / Should the guidance material refer to the qualifications (Cert II, Cert III and Cert IV in Stevedoring) that have been developed for the stevedoring industry?
Definitely
Safety Induction skill-set / Should the newly developed stevedoring ‘safety skill-set’ be used to underpin safety inductions?
A safety induction is the bare minimum.
Use of checklists / Should the safety checklists, which set out examples of the types of hazards, and acceptable/unacceptable ways of handling those hazards, be maintained in the guidance material?
I personally find that specific checklists can be as abused as general guidelines.
Comments on the implementation of the national guidance material in each jurisdiction which may have included launches, information and training sessions, and whether it has been useful in the workplace as a resource for improving safety practices.
Section/page no. / Comment
Other comments