I work with some of the very best risk managers in the business. Whether they’re inspecting on land or on a vessel at sea, these experts are looking for everything from building or vessel dangers to serious health or life safety issues.
I was on an inspection at a big shipyard recently with a seasoned veteran risk manager. He had been a risk assessor for the armed forces overseas in Iraq and he had every rating that I’d ever seen. He said he doesn’t get too worried about little things especially since he was deployed to assess places where soldiers were routinely killed by enemies and by industrial problems within their home bases. That’s not to say that the little things don’t matter.
During the shipyard inspection, I was looking for eye wash stations. Eye wash stations you ask? But let’s think this through. If I’m in a shipyard with hot work going on, plus painting, sanding, scraping, and grinding, I just might get something in my eyes every once in a while.
The shipyard we inspected had four buildings spaced apart, with two being right on the harbor line. I only saw one eye wash station in the machinery building, and it was at least 100 feet away from any other building. There were also paint shop and prep shop buildings. This meant that if everyone in the paint shop who got even a small speck in their eye would then either have to have someone walk them down the harbor line or just stumble along.
Eye wash stations are not very expensive. Buy them and install them properly in every place you have a fire extinguisher.
On board your vessels check the engine rooms. Sure, there could be eye wash stations in there. But what about eye stations in the galley areas or on deck in a hatchway?
Again, if you think you need a fire extinguisher for the boat maybe you need eye protection too.
Your insurer will perform these helpful risk assessment tours for free, so you should take advantage of this free expertise. It could save you and your employees time and money, but most of all it will prevent injuries.
