Safety is paramount to any working environment. Working on ships especially in the
engine room where considered a high hazard area, safety procedure must be in
placed at all times to prevent any uncontrollable circumstances. Safety procedures
and accident prevention measures shall be reviewed periodically and crew
motivation and awareness shall be enhanced continuously to adapt the working
situation.
1.1 Principles to be observed in the Conduct of an Engineering Watch
In the conduct of watch in the engine room the following principles should be
observed:
a. The Chief Engineer is the officer in-charge of the engineering watch and is
primary responsible at all times for the safe and efficient operation, maintenance
and inspection of machineries affecting the safety of the ship, its personnel and
the environment.
b. The Chief Engineer representative or the engineer officer’s in charge of the
engineering watch when designated must be responsible in lieu of the Chief
Engineer’s primary responsibility in an engineering watch.
c. Watch arrangement is adequate and arranged suitable to the prevailing
circumstances and in accordance to safety management system.
d. When taking over the watch, the engineer officer in charge of the engineering
watch shall not hand-over the watch to the relieving officer if there is reason to
believe that the relieving officer is not capable of carrying out watchkeeping
duties effectively and in which case the Chief Engineer shall be informed
accordingly.
e. The relieving duty engineer shall ensure that the members of the relieving duty
personnel are fully capable of performing their duties effectively.
f. Prior taking over of watch, the relieving duty engineer shall satisfy themselves to the engine room conditions relating to safety, operation and maintenance
conditions of machineries, standing orders and special instructions, etc.
g. When performing the engineering watch, the designated duty engineer shall
ensure that:
i. the established watchkeeping arrangements are maintained;
ii. any machinery not functioning properly, expected to malfunction or requiring
special services or attention shall be noted including the action already taken;
iii. the duty engineer at all times is readily capable of operating the propulsion equipment in response to needs for changes in direction or speed;
iv. the duty engineer shall be immediately available and on call to attend the
machinery spaces during UMS operation;
v. all bridge orders are promptly executed;
vi. all machinery and equipment which maybe used related to maneuvering is in a
state of immediate readiness and that available reserve power is available for
steering gear and other requirements when the engine room is put on stand-by
condition;
vii. the duty engineer make himself free of any obligatory function other than
supervising and assisting the personnel working under his watch, safe and
efficient operation and upkeep of machinery and the conduct of adequate rounds
in the machinery spaces to prevent any malfunction. He must devote his time
during his watch in maintaining the safe and efficient operation of the engine
room until he is relieved;
viii. duty engineer must notify the Chief Engineer in any event such as abnormality of critical machineries, emergency stop of the main engine, electric power supply is
lost, unusual increase of bilge water, there is order from bridge to change the
engine speed, hazards to navigation, injury to personnel, and danger of polluting
the sea.
1.2 Watchkeeping Arrangement in Engine Room
Suitable watchkeeping arrangement shall be employed in the engine room in
consultation with company SMS procedures, the master of the ship and the
prevailing circumstances as deems Chief engineer judgment may not be impaired
that all aspects of safe watchkeeping procedures are in placed keeping in foremost
the following objectives; “Safety of Life at Sea, Safe Operation of Ships,
Environmental Protection and Security”.
1.2.1 Unmanned Machinery Spaces (UMS) Watch
UMS watch or sometimes called as “MO watches” is being conducted in the engine
room capable of maintaining the operation and relevant safety requirements without
any personnel involved at certain periods.
The UMS watch must be commenced depending on the Chief Engineer judgment
that it is technically practicable in accordance with the “UMS Check List” and that the
machinery space has clear of danger and the safe operation is established.
UMS watch is conducted on daily basis commonly during night time and should not
be more than 24 hours in duration. Checking of machinery parameters and condition
should be done at least once in 24 hours period using the form “UMS Checklists”.
This is to ensure that the machinery spaces operation and safety procedures are in
placed.
Designated duty engineer (1/E, 2/E and 3/E) of the day to carry out the UMS watch,
must make himself available within the nearest areas or in his cabin to ensure that
any alarms relating to machinery spaces during the watch should be properly
attended to.
1.2.2 Manned Engine Room Watch
Manned engine room is a common arrangement in an older designed ships wherein
the machinery spaces is kept manned in 24 hours to maintain safe operation and
prevents any danger to arise. In the modern ships, manned engine room is also
being conducted when the ship is in entering/leaving port situation, during heavy
weather condition, etc.
Designated duty engineer is taking a 4-hourly watch twice in a day and carrying out
maintenance works of machinery assigned to him. A rating is also designated to
assist the duty engineer in keeping safe operation and maintenance in the engine
room.
The watch schedule is as follows:
1st Engineer 04~0800/16~2000 hours
2nd Engineer 00~0400/12~1600 hours
3rd Engineer 08~1200/20~2400 hours
The above schedule is sometimes changed when additional engineer is available
onboard and commonly the 1st Engineer is taking charged of the daily jobs or the
maintenance works.
1.2.3 In-Port Watch
When the ship is approaching her destination or in the port, the engine room under
manned or UMS arrangement should be prepared suitable to the operational
demand such as entering/leaving port operation, cargo work operation, etc.
Watchkeeping arrangement in the engine room varies depending on the situation
and is arranged in accordance with the operational requirements of the machinery.
Commonly when the ship is entering/leaving port, the Chief Engineer is taking
charge of the watch and reinforces the watch arrangement in the engine room.
Additional personnel (electrician, cadets, etc.,) are stationed in the engine room to assist in the machinery space operation.
1.3 Routine Operation and Maintenance
When conducting routine operation and maintenance in the engine room, the
following activities is the norm procedures that are being conducted to ensure that
safe and efficient operation and maintenance is adhered to. Safety aspect is also
enhanced when various precautionary measures, safety training and hazard
prediction activities are applied.
1.3.1 The Toolbox Meeting
Toolbox meeting is a meeting conducted to coordinate job description, schedule of
the day and other matters to ensure safety in the workplace at all times. The meeting
is being conducted at every start and end of work hours. All the crew that are
involved to the specific maintenance jobs in the engine room and other places
onboard are briefed accordingly, stating the work schedule, various safety
procedures, the relevant outcome required and the hazards involved.
All crew before carrying out maintenance jobs must make themselves involved in a
toolbox meeting at all time.
1.3.2 Pointers in Conducting Toolbox Meeting
a. Choose specific jobs to be done during the day.
b. Be prepared to discuss hazards involved, safety procedures, company
instruction, plans, materials, etc., which are related to the jobs.
c. Get the crew actively involve in the meeting as:
i. Talking about real life example (case study) of safety concerns and hazards
related to the job.
ii. Let the crew suggest and ask question related to the topics.
iii. Ask feed back from them about the meeting.
iv. Involve the crew in preparing for and/or leading future meetings.
d. Follow up and look back into complaints, suggestions and concerns brought out
by the crew, let them informed of the results and keep records of the meeting.
e. Conduct Hazard Prediction Training (Kiken Yochi Training (KYT) in Japanese).
1.3.3 Hazards Prediction Training (KYT)
“KYT” is a training method developed by Japanese, which is being conducted
through pre-work meetings or other procedures, where workers are given advance
warning of various unsafe conditions or unsafe behavior related to the job activity,
and thereby ensuring their own personal safety and the safety of others around
them”.
a. Point and Call
A method used to prevent accidents by human errors by making every action is
clear in which work accuracy is improve.
Point and call are applied by confirming correct action before performing it and
confirming correct action after performing it.
b. Point and Repeat
“Point and repeat” is method by which every crew points to an object together
and name it in unison. This aims to focus everyone’s attention on one goal
thereby enhance the team sense of identity and solidarity to achieve the goal.
“Point and repeat” generally conducted at the start and end of the workday. This
method is also effective in preventing accidents due to error. One person is
asking the task to be done and the other person is confirming and mutually
agreeing if the task is correct. Both person are pointing to the object to work on
and repeating the task and action for confirmation. In this manner, errors or
mistakes are avoided.
i. Touch and Call
It is a type of “point and repeat” with every crew are in physical contact and
chanting a slogan to a certain jobs to be performed. This aims to promote safe
actions consciously and unconsciously, prevents careless, absent minded
behavior.
c. Lock In/Tag-out
It is applies to servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, a method
used to ensure that any equipment to be work on is totally isolated, in which the
unexpected start up or release of stored energy is not allowed, and “lock in” that
will not cause any harm i.e., putting the switch in off position, removal of fuse in
the panel and putting notice “tag-out” in the source, i.e., control panel,
switchboard. The emphasis of this method is to the worker who is doing the jobs
and all the control for accident prevention are lie on him
1.3.4 Near-miss Activities and Reporting in the Engine Room
Near-miss is defined as an incident or event happened that does not cause accident
or injury to personnel or damage to machinery but has the potential to do so.
According to the Heinrich`s Law, there are about 300 near-miss cases and 29 small
incidents behind one serious accident. This goes true in daily operation in the engine
room and near-miss incidents should be properly identified by reporting activities,
compiling and analyzing data to plan for preventative measures.
Near-Miss 3000 activities which has introduced by NYK line onboard their vessels
are intended to identify and neutralize the factors that could cause accidents/or
vessel trouble.
NYK believes that near-miss activities alone do not cover the full scope of accidents warnings and causes. As such, the company places importance on uncovering
unsafe conditions and acts, addressing relevant issues on a case to case basis as
part of the problem identification activities. Examples of such conditions and behavior include slippery passageways or difficulty in seeing safety warnings. Near-Miss 3000 reflects the company’s recognition of 3000 unsafe acts and conditions, which crews are encouraged to be alert in their working environment.
In engine room, there are many dangerous possibilities lurking behind of near miss.
Some of them lead to serious injury. Following cases are examples of incidents that
that should be taken seriously and the same situation shall be avoided.
“Near-Miss 3000 Activity” is being enforced and one of the objectives
is to raise the awareness of safety among crewmembers and motivate them to make
improvements on the scene. Every crew members are encouraged to participate,
identify any near-miss observed and do correction directly as much as possible,
report data to the company and to have the company effectively prepare
countermeasures against troubles.
You, as cadet have the potential to cause an accident, and the potential to prevent
an accident, improve the state of your ship and nip trouble in the bud and raise your situational awareness. This means that in every activity or working procedure in the engine room shall be incorporated with near-miss identification and correction to prevent an accident.
Thus, “DEVIL Hunting” is introduced and continuously follows up by all crew. It is
very essential in keeping the engine room a safe place to work and free of machinery
troubles.
1.4 What To Do in Case of an Emergency
It is very essential that every personnel must know how to deal and cope with an
emergency or in case of machinery trouble specifically in the engine room.
Familiarity of the machinery spaces is a must for all the personnel working in these
areas in order for them to act in any prevailing situation. Various situations must be
grasps in order for them to act according to what is required in an event of;
1.4.1 Fire
Fire is one of the catastrophic scenarios when occurred in the engine room.
Combustion mostly occurs when the three elements of fire (heat, fuel and air) are
present.
These three elements of fire are always presents in the engine room, especially in
machinery spaces and working areas. The best method of fighting a “fire” is
prevention. Any flammable materials will not emit fire when properly handled and
kept in proper location.
When occurrence of fire in the engine room is observed, the following measures
should be done:
a. Keep calm and fight the fire with available fire extinguishing agent at hand when
fire has just only started. When two persons detect the fire, another person shall
do the raising of the alarm.
b. Raise the alarm and inform the bridge of the location, kind of combustible
materials, etc.,
c. Continue to fight the fire if applicable and if impossible, look for a safe place near
the location of fire, coordinate with the on-scene leader of the firefighting team
and give information such as the cause of fire, any crew in the vicinity of fire,
initial firefighting applied, scope of the spread of fire and the estimated time
outbreak of the fire.
d. When the on-scene leader grasps all the information, ask permission to proceed
in your muster station and follow the instruction of your team leader.
Notes:
i. Best fire fighting agent is “prevention”.
ii. Initial action when fire is detected is foremost important to successfully contain
the fire.
1.4.2 Black-out
Black-out or electrical power outages is an occurrence when the electrical power
generator or other ancillary’s related equipment fails the supply of electricity onboard.
This scenario is very rare to occur but proper knowledge in prevention and
countermeasures is a must for engineer officer’s to take charge of an engineering
watch.
When Black-out occurrence prevails, do the following:
a. Initially, the duty engineer must check and try to recover the electrical power
supply and report the situation to the bridge and to the Chief Engineer.
b. Identify the direct cause and judge the possibility of restarting the main electric
power supply, or of starting the auxiliary or stand-by generator and closing ACB,
etc.
c. Restart the auxiliary or stand-by generator automatically or manually and close
the ACB.
d. Stop, slow-down and restart the operation of the main engine as occasion
demands.
e. Sequentially restart the vital auxiliary machinery or manually restart them in
succession as occasion demands while watching the electrical loads.
f. Restart the other auxiliary machinery such as purifier, air cond. system, etc.
g. Recover and maintain the operating parameters of the main engine.
h. Investigate the cause and take countermeasures.
1.4.3 Flooding
Flooding is an occurrence when there is breakage of sea water piping or tearing of
the ship’s hull that will cause flowing of sea water in the engine room.
When flooding is detected in the engine room, you should:
a. Raise alarm to crew around, notify the bridge and give information regarding the
situation and inform the Chief Engineer.
b. Conduct initial damage control bearing in mind the following concerns:
i. Isolation of the affected area.
ii. Protects all machinery especially those used for damage and flooding control
such as the electrical equipments, pumps, etc.
c. When the on-scene leader has arrived, brief him regarding the situation such as
the location of source of water, the possible cause, etc.
d. When all relevant information has given to the on-scene leader, ask permission to
proceed to your muster station and follow the order of your team leader.
1.5 Hazards Related to Job Activities in the Engine Room
Various hazards are involved while working in the engine room. Some cases are
discussed here are to be used for guidance and may not be complete. It is
recommended that hazards related to job activities are to be identified and discussed
among the crew to improve the safety procedures and to prevent accidents.
a. Drilling hole on metal using bench drill machine.
Point of Hazards:
i. Not wearing of safety goggles or glass. Metal chip/ powder may likely enter the
eyes.
ii. Wearing of gloves.
The hands maybe caught by the rotating elements of the machine.
iii. Work piece is unsecured and is using the hand. Work piece must be fastened by securing tool to avoid swinging and thrown due to rotating force that may cause injury to a person
b. Grinding work on bench grinder.
Point of Hazards:
i. Work supporting block clearance (d) is too big.
Block clearance must be adjusted to minimum distance to support the work piece and to avoid flying off.
ii. Work piece is secured by pliers.
Pliers cannot support the work piece securely and may cause the work piece to fly-off
c. De-burring work.
Point of Hazards:
i. The work is not secured completely, it
maybe sent off flying.
ii. The air sander may “jump-off” from the
hand that can hurt the user
d. Cleaning of filter elements in the workshop.
Point of Hazards:
i. Cleaning of filter while welding jobs is being carried out on the other side.
This can cause fire in the area, if the chemical is combustibles and used as
cleaning materials.
ii. Do not work at welding area as this may injured your eyes.
iii. Water shall not be used near the welding area otherwise electric shock
may occur
e. Lifting/Carrying of objects while in the Engine Room Point of Hazards:
i. Lifting position.
Even though the lifting position is correct and the weight is enough, never attempt to lift object above you. This will cause “tip-off” especially when the ship experience rolling or pitching.
ii. Non-secure objects.
Avoid manual lifting of heavy object and as much as possible ensure that it
is fully secure. Use lifting devices as necessary or ask assistance when
carrying heavy objects. Be careful with stairs. When lifting object in stairs, always free up one hand to hold on rail.
f. Working with ladder.
Point of Hazards:
i. Falls from height above the ground.
Select the right ladder for the job.
Never splice two ladders at a time.
ii. Falling tool and equipment.
Secure all tools that are being used on top.
iii. Slips.
Be sure to position the ladder and properly secured
g. When entering a tank for inspection or maintenance.
Point of Hazards:
i. Asphyxiation from oxygen deficiency.
Oxygen content of the tank must be continuously monitored as most of accidents inside the tanks are caused by oxygen deficiency.
ii. Falls
As the tank was not cleaned, be precautious in stepping at the steps and flooring.
iii. Communication Failure.
Common problems when entering tanks is communication. Use buddy system and always confirm that proper communication is established at all times
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