Accident prevention on board ship at sea and in port

Code of practice | 01 January 1996
This code of practice is an update of the previous version. It was drawn up by a meeting of 15 international experts, convened by the ILO at Geneva (28 Sep. - 5 Oct. 1993) and attended by representatives of IMO, ISO, the CEC, the IOE, the ICFTU and the WFTU. The experts considered that the code of practice constituted a body of advice which would be of great value to ILO member States. The code should not be regarded as a legally binding instrument, and was not intended to supersede national laws or regulations or other national safety and health rules. Its practical recommendations are intended for use by all those who have responsibility for safety and health on board ship. Its object is to provide guidance to shipowners and seafarers and others concerned with the framing of provisions of this kind in both the public and private sectors. It may be impracticable to apply some of these recommendations to a particular ship or type of shipping operation. In such cases, every endeavour should be made to observe the intent of the recommendations, and the risks that may be involved in any operation covered by the code should be taken into consideration when applying these measures. A code such as this cannot cover every aspect of safety both at work and in off-duty periods aboard ship at sea and in port, and no human activity is free from some measure of risk. Accidents are in many cases caused by lack of knowledge or inadequate raining, incomplete understanding of ships and ship operations, non adherence to procedures, lack of foresight and the taking of unnecessary risks, often in quite simple operations. Prudence and foresight are natural characteristics of the good seafarer at work, who should make it a habit to be on the lookout for the hazards in any situation, including ordinary everyday situations.