Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seafarers and Codes of Practice on Noise and Vibration

Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seafarers

The latest edition of The Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seafarers (the Code) is the 2015 Edition. It has been endorsed by the National Maritime Occupational Health and Safety Committee (NMOHSC), UK Chamber of Shipping, Nautilus International, and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), all of whom collaborated in the working group on this edition. 

The Code is recognised as a best practice guide for improving health and safety on board ship and is intended primarily for merchant seafarers on UK registered ships. It is addressed to everyone on a ship regardless of rank or rating as well as shorebased staff with safety responsibilities. 

Carriage of the Code 

Regulation 12a of Statutory Instruments  S.I. 2015/1692 require that: 

"The Company must ensure that there are sufficient copies of the Code on board ship so that it is easily accessible and readily available to all workers and seafarers who are not workers."

Codes of Practice for Controlling Risks on Board Ship due to Noise or Vibration

Following implementation of Regulations in 2007 on the Control of Noise and the Control of Vibration the MCA produced for industry three Codes providing guidance and interpretation of the requirements in order to to comply with the regulations. These are: 

• Code of Practice for Controlling Risks due to Noise on Ships
• Code of Practice for Controlling Hand Transmitted Vibration on Ships 
• Code of Practice for Controlling Risks due to Whole Body Vibration on Ships

These Codes of Practice are intended to assist those concerned with designing, building, owning or managing ships to comply with the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels) (Control of Noise at Work) Regulations (S.I. 2007/3075) and the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Control of Vibration at Work) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/3077). 

These Codes of Practice collectively deal with: 

• the assessment from noise and vibration on ships;
• the measurement and evaluation of noise and vibration; 
• the assessment of the severity of exposures to noise and vibration;
• the identification of controls to eliminate or reduce exposure to noise and vibration;
• the involvement of crew members in the control of noise and vibration risks, including provision of information and training; and
• the provision of health monitoring and surveillance for noise and vibration.

Availability of publications: 

 The latest editions of these publications, either in hard copy or PDF, can be purchased directly from the MCA's Official Publisher TSO.