Deck Seamanship & Safety

1. Deck Seamanship & Safety

11. Learning Objectives • Know the general dangers involved with shipboard deck evolutions. • Explain the role of Officers as safety observers during deck evolutions. • Know the terms and nomenclature of shipboard deck equipment and fittings.

12. Learning Objectives • Know responsibilities and safety precautions relative to small boat operations. • Know the importance of "common sense" in identifying general deck safety hazards.

13. Fundamental Philosophy of Deck Seamanship • A ship is an industrial environment and it is a dangerous place to work. • It can be made safe by: • Taking care • Using common sense • Not hurrying

14. Where officers fit into the picture • Most junior enlisted sailors feel that they are immune from danger. • It is the senior personnel who must ensure that they don't find out how wrong they are! • The safety officer must resist the temptation to get involved in the activities. • Allow the sailor to do the job!

15. Personal Protective Gear • Footwear • Steel-toed boots, or "boondockers” • "Plastic" shoes (corfram or clothing, such as CNT, for that matter)

16. Personal Protective Gear • Hard Hats / Cranials • Whenever work is going on, a hard hat should be worn. • It won't protect against a falling truck, but it will keep a wrench from knocking a person out when it is dropped from above. • White is the hard hat color worn by officers and other safety/supervisory personnel

18. Personal Protective Gear • Hand and Eye Protection • Whenever power tools are in use, hand and eye protection should be worn. • Many other times where common sense should tell one to use hand and eye protection. • When working with pressurized fluid systems, eye protection could prevent serious injury

20. Personal Protective Gear • Hearing Protection • A common industrial injury is hearing loss. • This is one of the most difficult to notice and protect against. • Most people do not worry about loud noises for short periods of time, and when it is more expedient not to wear hearing protection, will not do so.

21. Personal Protective Gear • Loose Clothing • Anytime work is being done around rotating machinery, or any moving system, loose clothing becomes dangerous.

22. Personal Protective Gear • Flotation Devices • Life jackets and other personal flotation devices should be worn when common sense dictates. • On the flight deck, or during combat conditions, where a kapok-type life preserver is too bulky, other means (CO2 inflatable preservers) are substituted.

23. FLOAT COAT

25. Ground tackle, Anchoring, and Mooring • The number one safety rule: Never stand in the bight of a line or cable! • Pre-brief

26. Anchoring • With ground tackle and anchoring, a yellow "shot" of anchor chain is a warning, and a red "shot" is danger. • Letting go of the anchor should be done slowly and with great control • but if the anchor is "free falling" out of control and one of these shots appears, get out of the way! • The Gouge: • 6 ft / fathom • 90 ft / shot • 15 fathoms / shot

27. Mooring • When mooring, ensure that all line handlers are in safe zones when working tensioned lines. • Keep an eye on the tattletales and on the general motion of the ship. • Personnel on the bridge are more concerned about maneuvering and positioning the ship, and it is easy to loose the big picture regarding lines.

28. Mooring • Avoid a parted line by keeping the bridge informed as line tension increases and by watching what is happening around the line. • Standard Commands to Line Handlers.

29. Towing • Towing is an immensely complicated process, and thoroughly briefing the plan of action is essential. • But in general, the same safety rules apply - tow lines part more frequently than mooring lines. • An ax should be located near the tow rig to cut away the line, if necessary

31. Small Boat Handling • Boat Handling - boats are brought on or lowered by either davits, booms, or cranes. • A few common safety tips apply to all cases.

32. Small Boat Handling • Winch Handles • When using a davit, the manual (gravity) winch handle should be either in the hand or in the holder. Never leave an unattended winch handle in the winch....if it free falls, the winch handle will rotate very quickly on its own.

33. Small Boat Handling • Monkey Lines • Monkey lines are on the span wire to be used. A person should place about three-quarters of his/her weight on the lines so that if the boat should fall out from under the individual, he/she will not fall with the boat.

34. Small Boat Handling • Hard Hats and Helmets • Wear when a boat is being lowered. • A helmet firmly attached to the head will act like a parachute should an individual hit the water. This could cause irreparable damage to the neck. • Have a break-away chin strap.

35. Small Boat Handling • Stand outboard when a boat is being lowered. • It is much better to be between the boat and the sea than between the boat and the ship. • Weather

36. Cargo Handling and UNREP • Safety is an issue anytime weight is being handled, especially during cargo onloads or offloads and during UNREP’s. • The following general precautions must be followed: • Pre-Brief • Training

38. Cargo Handling and UNREP • Stand clear of the load. Never get between a load and the ship. • It is amazing how many people think they can get on one side of a 5 ton load and push it into position. • Do not allow someone to get trapped between the load and a bulkhead.

40. Rope vs. Line • Ropes: • Manufactured from wire, fiber, or a combination of the two. • Lines: • Fiber rope • Natural: cotton, hemp • Synthetic: nylon, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene

42. Working with lines and rope • Gloves • When working with wire rope, a person must wear gloves. There are many "fishhooks" (fragments of wire) that can cut a hand, and the grease that covers most rope is not good for an open cut.

43. Working with lines and rope • Gloves • When handling line, however, a person should generally not wear gloves (avoids getting caught in lay of line) • Keep hands at least 18 inches from a bit, pad-eye, or snatch block.

45. Working with lines and rope • Parting • Wire ropes part just like lines do, and care should be taken not to rush evolutions that involve wire rope. • Although it doesn't tend to snap back like synthetic line, a parting rope or line is dangerous.

46. Working with lines and rope • Deterioration • The biggest danger with natural fiber lines is rotting. • That is the advantage of synthetic fiber lines even though they "snap back" when parted.

47. Synthetic Line Snapback • Synthetic lines, when parted, react like a rubber band. Always keep this in mind when working with synthetic line. Stand in safe zones. • Pay attention to "tattletales" which will part before the line they are spliced into parts. • Film: “Synthetic Line Snapback”

48. Life lines, life rails, and safety chains • Life lines • Flexible lines rigged between stanchions to prevent falls (note: not to lean on). • Life rails • Permanent rails set up to prevent falls. • Safety Chains • Are rigged around an open hatch in a deck. • They prevent people from falling where a permanent fixture is not possible.

49. Working Aloft • An Officer of the Deck (In Port) will be approached with requests from sailors to go aloft, perhaps to repair an antenna. • Anyone working aloft is required to have a safety harness rigged and tended. • Knowledgeable supervisor. Make sure the supervisor intends to remain on scene and is qualified to oversee the evolution.

50. Working Aloft • When people are working aloft, ensure that radar's and radios have been deenergized and have the quarterdeck pass the word at regular intervals.