The Merchant Shipping (Crew Accommodation) Regulations 1997

• (6) At least one bed in every permanent hospital shall be a single-tier bed and shall, wherever practicable, be so placed that it is accessible from both sides and from the foot.

• (7) If double-tier beds are provided in a hospital the upper tier shall be either hinged or removable.

• (8) The minimum inside dimensions of every bed in a permanent hospital shall be adequate to accommodate mattresses of a size 2 metres by 840 millimetres. In all other respects beds in permanent hospitals shall comply with the requirements set out in regulation 20.

• (9) Any room in a permanent hospital in which a bed is placed (in this regulation called “the ward”) shall, unless it is served by an air conditioning system or a trunked mechanical ventilation system, be fitted with an electric fan.

• (10) All side scuttles and windows in the ward, and all skylights therein which are exposed to the direct rays of the sun shall be provided with curtains or blinds.

• (11) Every permanent hospital, even if served by an air conditioning system or a trunked mechanical ventilation system, shall be provided in addition with a natural system of inlet and exhaust ventilation to the open air independent of any ventilators provided for other parts of the ship and complying with requirements of regulation 14(6).

• (12) Any radiator in the ward shall be fitted as far away from the head of any bed as is practicable.

• (13) Every permanent hospital shall be provided with a portable electrical lamp in addition to the lighting required by regulation 13. The lamp shall be capable of emitting 600 lumens.

• (14) The following items of equipment shall be provided for each bed in the hospital ward, and shall be within reach of that bed—

• (a) a locker approximately 305 millimetres square by 610 millimetres high, fitted with a flat top and a shelf;

• (b) a water bottle;

• (c) a tumbler; and

• (d) an electric bell-push communicating with the sleeping room of the doctor, nurse or other person in charge of the patient.

• (15) The following items of equipment shall be provided in every ward—

• (a) seats adequate in number having regard to the number of beds in the ward;

• (b) a clothes locker (additional to any lockers provided pursuant to paragraph (14)(a)) complying with the requirements of regulation 21(2)(a)(i); and

• (c) a box cover to conceal a bed-pan.

• (16) A washbasin of a capacity of at least 7 litres, with hot and cold water laid on to it, shall be fitted in every permanent hospital either in the ward or in a bathroom in washing accommodation in the hospital.

• (17) In ships of 5,000 tons or over a bath at least 1.35 metres in internal length shall be fitted in washing accommodation in the hospital.

• (18) Every washbasin or bath in a permanent hospital shall comply with the requirements of regulation 26(11) and, where practicable, except in ships provided with a collecting tank or sewage plant, the discharge system shall be separate from any other discharge system in the ship. A scupper at least 50 millimetres in diameter shall be fitted in the lowest part of any room in a hospital in which a bath is fitted and in any room in which a basin is fitted unless that room is the ward.

• (19) A water closet pedestal and the other items specified in regulation 26(22) shall be fitted in every permanent hospital either in a separate closet or in washing accommodation in the hospital.

• (20) Access to the water closet or, if the water closet pedestal is fitted in washing accommodation, access to that washing accommodation shall be obtained either directly from the ward or from a lobby within the hospital. The door to that water closet or washing accommodation shall open outwards and any door catch fitted to it shall be capable of being opened from the outside.

• (21) The water closet or other room in which the water closet pedestal is fitted shall, unless it is served by a trunked mechanical exhaust ventilation system which effectively removes the odours from it, be provided with a gastight self-closing door.

• (22) All washbasins, baths, showers and water closets fitted in a hospital shall comply with the requirements of regulation 26(11), (14), (18), (22) and (23).

• (23) In passenger ships, one hospital may be provided to serve both crew and passengers. In such a case separate male and, except where there are no female members of the crew, female wards and sanitary accommodation shall be provided for the exclusive use of the crew.

• (24) The floor covering in every permanent hospital shall, so far as is practicable, be free from joints.

Medical cabinet

33

• (1) A cabinet or other suitable facility for storing medicines and other medical stores, which the ship is required by regulations made under section 85 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 to carry for the crew, shall be well ventilated and fitted in a place in the crew area of the ship which—

• (a) is always dry;

• (b) is readily accessible from (but not sited in) the permanent or temporary hospital; and

• (c) is not subject to abnormal heat.

• (2) Where a medical cabinet is required it shall be provided with the following—

• (a) an outer door with an efficient lock;

• (b) where controlled drugs are to be stored, an inner cupboard fitted with a door and a lock which cannot be opened by the same key as the lock to the outer door;

• (c) suitable arrangements for the storage of the medicines, medical stores and associated measuring devices all as required by the regulations referred to in paragraph (1); and

• (d) a dispensing counter with a surface that can be easily kept clean.

• (3) Where a medical cabinet is fitted it shall be lit by an electric light (which may be inside or immediately outside it) which enables the contents to be clearly seen.

Protection from mosquitoes

34

• (1) Subject to paragraph (4), in every ship engaged in voyages to—

• (a) all ports on the coast of Africa and all ports in Asia, Central and South America between 30° North and 35° South latitude; or

• (b) ports on the coast of the Malagasy Republic;

the crew accommodation, other than a recreation space on the open deck, shall be protected by means of screening against the admission of mosquitoes.

• (2) The screening shall be made of rust-proof wire or other suitable material and shall be fitted to or provided for all sidescuttles and windows and skylights which are capable of being opened and all natural ventilators and doors leading to an open deck.

• (3) Any screening door which is fitted pursuant to this regulation and leads directly into a permanent or temporary hospital shall be of a self-closing type.

• (4) In crew accommodation served by an air conditioning system screening need not be provided for sidescuttles or windows fitted with special locking arrangements which (except where the sidescuttles and windows are used for escape purposes) can only be unlocked with the consent of the master, if all doors leading from that crew accommodation to the open deck are of the self-closing type.

Maintenance and inspection of crew accommodation

35

• (1) The crew accommodation shall be maintained in a clean and habitable condition and all equipment and installations required by these Regulations shall be maintained in good working order.

• (2) Every part of the crew accommodation, except store rooms, shall be kept free from stores and other property not belonging to or provided for the use of persons for whom that part of the accommodation is appropriated, and in particular no cargo shall be kept in any part of the crew accommodation.

• (3) The master of the ship or an officer appointed by him for the purpose shall inspect every part of the crew accommodation at intervals not exceeding 7 days and shall be accompanied on the inspection by at least one member of the crew.

• (4) The master of the ship shall cause to be entered in the ship’s official log book a record of—

• (a) the time and date of the inspection;

• (b) the names and ranks of the persons making the inspection; and

• (c) particulars of any respect in which the crew accommodation or any part of it was found by any of the persons making the inspection not to comply with these Regulations.

PART III — EQUIPMENT TO BE OF AN APPROVED TYPE

Equipment to be of an approved type

36

• (1) It shall be the duty of an owner of a ship to which these Regulations apply to ensure that the following equipment is of an approved type—

• (a) floor coverings referred to in regulations 8/1 and 32(34);

• (b) sidescuttles and windows referred to in regulation 15(1);

• (c) vacuum discharge pipe systems referred to in regulation 26(22)(c);

• (d) thermostatic mixing valves referred to in regulation 26(15)(c)(i); and

• (e) plant used to produce drinking water and/or fresh water on board a ship referred to in regulation 27(4).

• (2) In this regulation “approved”, in relation to an item of equipment, means approved by the Secretary of State or by a person specified in Merchant Shipping Notice M.1645 in relation to that equipment.

Exemptions from Part III

37

The Secretary of State may grant exemptions from all or any of the provisions of this Part of these Regulations (as may be specified in the exemption) on such terms (if any) as he may so specify and may, subject to giving reasonable notice, alter or cancel any such exemption.

Offences

38

• (1) Any owner who contravenes regulation 36(1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

• (2) In any proceedings for an offence under this Part of these Regulations it shall be a defence to prove that the person charged took all reasonable steps to ensure that the Regulations were complied with.

Power to detain

39

In any case where a ship does not comply with the requirements of this Part of these Regulations, that ship shall be liable to be detained and section 284(1)—(6) and (8) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (which relates to the detention of a ship) shall have effect in relation to that ship, subject to the modification that for the words “this Act” wherever they appear, there are substituted the words “Part III of the Merchant Shipping (Crew Accommodation) Regulations 1997”.

SCHEDULE — ELECTRIC LIGHTING

In this Schedule, “general measurement points” mean, in relation to any space, those points which, measured at a height of 850 millimetres above the floor, fall on an imaginary line drawn vertically through the following points—

• (a) every point mid-way between every 2 adjacent lamps in that space;

• (b) every point mid-way between any lamp and any position on the boundary of that space to which that lamp is nearer than any other lamp; and

• (c) where any part of the space available for free movement is shielded from the direct rays of a lamp by a re-entrant angle formed in the boundary of that space, the central point of the space so shielded.

Signed

Signed by the authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

Glenda Jackson — Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, — Department of Transport — 9th June 1997

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement the International Labour Organisation Conventions No. 92 (1949) and No. 133 (1970) agreed in Geneva. They lay down provisions for crew accommodation for all United Kingdom ships excluding fishing vessels, pleasure vessels and ships belonging to General Lighthouse Authorities.

Part III of the Regulations provide that the owner of a ship to which these Regulations apply shall ensure that the equipment specified in Part III is of an approved type.

The Regulations revoke and replace (with amendments) the Merchant Shipping (Crew Accommodation) Regulations 1978 as amended. The Principal amendment is to remove many of the requirements formerly imposed by Schedules 1, 2 and 4 of the 1978 Regulations.

The ILO Conventions can be obtained from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1995 c. 21; sections 85 and 86 were amended by the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997 (c. 28), section 8.

[^f00002]: S.I. 1978/795.

[^f00003]: S.I. 1979/491.

[^f00004]: S.I. 1984/41.

[^f00005]: S.I. 1989/184.

[^f00006]: S.I. 1985/2066, amended by S.I. 1986/2330 and 1988/916.

[^f00007]: S.I. 1982/841, amended by S.I. 1988/1910.

[^f00008]: S.I. 1997/1510.