North of England Highlights Dangers of Cargo Op

The North of England P&I Association has launched an international pos
ter campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of overhead cargo opera
tions to crew, passengers and shoreworkers on its members’ ships. Ent
itled The rights and wrong of cargo operations at sea, the poster show
s both how and how not to behave in the vicinity of cargo loading and
discharge operations.
In line with many of the club’s other loss prevention initiatives, th
e poster uses the established ‘Mr Good’ and ‘Mr Bad’ cartoon chara
cters to convey the message in a colorful and humorous way. It is the
last in a series of 16 accident prevention posters produced by the clu
b with the motto ‘dress safe, work safe’
“The time a vessel spends alongside working cargo often only represen
ts a small propotion of totoal ship’s time but it can be both stressf
ul and very busy for all onboard. Either as a result of real or percei
ved pressures, seafarers might be tempted to ‘cut corners’ and take
ill considered risks-this must be avoided at all cost,”said Phil Ande
rson, head of loss prevention at the North of England.
It is recommended that all seafarers involved in cargo operations shou
ld wear appropriate personal protective equipment to at least the mini
mum level specified by the club. All personnel on the cargo deck shoul
d be restricted to the non-cargo working side of the ship and safe tra
nsit and access routes should be clearly marked either by ropes, tapes
or painted lines on the deck.