Health, Safety, Environmental Protection and Emergency Procedures
What this domain tests
This domain tests the practical safety and pollution-prevention decisions an engineer officer makes: permits, atmosphere testing, fire response, spill response and abandonment drills.
Permits and enclosed spaces
- Enclosed space entry requires a permit, isolation, ventilation, and testing before entry and at intervals during the work: oxygen near 20.9%, hydrocarbons below 1% of the lower flammable limit, toxic gases below the exposure limit.
- A standby man at the entrance with communications and rescue equipment is mandatory; rescue without breathing apparatus has killed would-be rescuers.
- Hot work needs a permit, gas-freeing, removal of combustibles, a fire watch and a charged hose at the site.
Fire
- Fire is fought on the fire triangle: remove fuel, oxygen or heat. Class A solids with water or foam, Class B liquids with foam or carbon dioxide, Class C gases by isolation, Class D metals with dry powder; electrical fires are isolated first, then attacked with carbon dioxide or a clean agent.
- Fixed carbon dioxide in a machinery space requires the space sealed, ventilation stopped and all personnel accounted for before release.
- Boundary cooling, closing openings and stopping the fuel supply are as important as the extinguishing medium.
Environment and emergencies
- Spills: stop the source, contain with the shipboard pollution response kit, notify the master and shore, and record the event as required.
- Garbage is segregated under the management plan and entered in the garbage record book; plastics are never discharged overboard.
- Abandon ship: muster, lifejacket, immersion suit in cold water, and abandon only on the master's order; the engineer secures fuel, closes quick-closing valves and stops machinery before leaving.
Worked example
A fitter collapses inside a ballast tank. Reasoning: the atmosphere is presumed lethal until tested. Raise the alarm, do not enter, ventilate from outside if the arrangement allows, and enter only wearing breathing apparatus with a harness and lifeline, with a second BA wearer at the entrance. Recovery follows the rescue plan and the permit is suspended. Once the casualty is out, the space is re-tested before anyone else enters, and the near miss is reported so that the permit and testing procedure are reviewed.
Traps that cost marks
Entering after a few minutes of ventilation without testing; using oxygen to purge a space; applying water to an electrical fire; releasing carbon dioxide without accounting for personnel; discharging hold washings without checking Annex V.
Key points
- Enclosed spaces: permit, isolation, ventilation, testing before and during entry