PART IIIFURTHER PRECAUTIONS AGAINST FALLS OF PERSONS, MATERIALS AND ARTICLES
Fencing of dry docks
25.—(1) Fencing shall be provided at or near the edges of a dry dock at ground level, including edges above flights of steps and chutes for materials. The height of such fencing shall at no point be less than three feet or, in the case of fencing which was placed in such position before the making of these Regulations, two feet six inches.
(2) Such fencing as aforesaid shall be kept in position save when and to the extent to which its absence is necessary (whether or not for the purposes of the operations) for the access of persons, or for the movement of materials or vessels or for traffic or working, or for repair, but fencing removed for any of these purposes shall be kept readily available and shall be replaced as soon as practicable.
(3) This Regulation shall come into operation at the expiration of twenty-four months after the making of these Regulations.
Protection of openings
26.—(1) Every side or edge of an opening in a deck or tank top of a vessel, being a side or edge which may be a source of danger to persons employed, shall, except where and while the opening is securely covered or where the side or edge is protected to a height of not less than two feet six inches by a coaming or other part of the vessel, be provided with fencing to a height of not less than three feet above the side or edge, and such fencing shall be kept in position save when and to the extent to which its absence is necessary (whether or not for the purposes of the operations) for the access of persons, or for the movement of materials, or for traffic or working, or for repair, but fencing removed for any of these purposes shall be kept readily available and shall be replaced as soon as practicable.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall not apply—
(a)to that part of an opening in a deck or tank top which is at the head of a stairway or ladder-way intended to be used while the operations are being carried on; or
(b)to parts of a deck or tank top which are intended to be plated, except such parts where the plating has necessarily to be delayed so that the opening may be used for the purposes of the operations.
Fall of articles from stages
27. Where persons employed are at work outside a vessel on a stage adjacent to part of the structure of the vessel and other persons employed are at work directly beneath that stage, the planks of the stage shall be in such a position that no article liable to cause injury to the persons employed can fall between the planks, and the inside plank of the stage shall be placed as near as practicable to the structure of the vessel having regard to the nature of the work being carried on.
Boxes for rivets, etc
28.—(1) Boxes or other suitable receptacles for rivets, nuts, bolts and welding rods shall be provided for the use of the persons employed.
(2) It shall be the duty of the persons employed to use, so far as practicable, the boxes or other suitable receptacles so provided.
Throwing down materials and articles
29.—(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this Regulation, parts of staging, tools and other articles and materials shall not be thrown down from a height where they are liable to cause injury to persons employed, but shall be properly lowered.
(2) When the work to be done necessarily involves the throwing down from a height of articles or materials, conspicuous notices shall be posted to warn persons from working or passing underneath the place from which articles or materials may fall, or the work shall be done under the direct supervision of a competent person in authority.
(3) No person employed shall throw down any articles or materials from a height except in accordance with the requirements of this Regulation.
Loose articles or materials
30.—(1) So far as practicable, steps shall be taken to minimise the risk arising from loose articles or materials being left lying about in any place from which they may fall on persons working or passing underneath.
(2) It shall be the duty of the persons employed to comply with the foregoing paragraph of this Regulation.