The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Manual Handling Operations) Regulations 1998

• Citation: S.I. 1998/2857
• Sections: 13

Section 1 Citation, commencement and repeal

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Manual Handling Operations) Regulations 1998 and shall come into force on 31st December 1998.

(2) The following provisions are hereby repealed–

(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b) section 28(1)(f) of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 ;

(c) paragraph 35 of Schedule 8 to the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 .

Section 2 Interpretation

(1) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires, any reference to–

(a) a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation bearing that number in these Regulations; and

(b) a numbered paragraph or sub-paragraph is a reference to the paragraph or, as the case may be, sub-paragraph bearing that number in the regulation or Schedule in which the reference appears.

(2) In these Regulations–

“ the Act ” means the Merchant Shipping Act 1995;

“contract of employment” means a contract of employment, whether express or implied, and if express, whether oral or in writing;

“employer” means a person by whom a worker is employed under a contract of employment;

“ General Duties Regulations ” means the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety at Work) Regulations 1997 ;

“health and safety” includes the occupational health and safety of persons whilst on board the ship and whilst boarding or leaving the ship;

“injury” does not include injury caused by any toxic or corrosive substance which–

has leaked or spilled from a load,

is present on the surface of a load, but has not leaked or spilled from it, or

is a constituent part of a load,

and injured shall be construed accordingly;

“load” includes any person and any animal;

“manual handling operation” means any transporting or supporting of a load (including lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or by bodily force;

“public service vessel” means any vessel operated by and on behalf of a public body while it is carrying out the authorised functions of that body;

“relevant inspector” means a person mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) of section 258(1) of the Act;

“sail training vessel” means a vessel which is being used either–

to provide instruction in the principles of responsibility, resourcefulness, loyalty and team endeavour and to advance education in the art of seamanship; or

to provide instruction in navigation and seamanship for yachtsmen,

and is operating under a statutory code;

“statutory code” means–

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Commercial Sailing Vessels ;

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Commercial Motor Vessels ; or

The Code of Practice for Safety of Large Commercial Sailing and Motor Vessels ;

“trainees and apprentices” does not include persons who are training in a sail training vessel;

“United Kingdom ship” means a ship which–

is a United Kingdom ship within the meaning of section 85(2) of the Act; or

is a Government ship within the meaning of section 308(4) of the Act; or

is a hovercraft registered under the Hovercraft Act 1968 .

“worker” means any person employed by an employer under a contract of employment, including trainees or apprentices.

(3) Subject to paragraph (2), words and expressions used in the Regulations shall have the same meaning as in Council Directive 90/269/ EEC on the minimum health and safety requirements for the manual handling of loads where there is a risk particularly of back injury to workers .

Section 3 Application and exemption

(1) These Regulations shall apply to all activities of workers on United Kingdom ships except when–

(a) the activity of a worker is on a public service vessel or a vessel engaged in search and rescue; and

(b) characteristics of that activity inevitably conflict with a provision of these Regulations,

and in such a case there shall be a duty on the employer so far as is reasonably practicable to ensure the health and safety of the worker when performing that activity.

(2) Regulations 1, 2, 3, 11, 12 and 13 apply to ships other than United Kingdom ships which are in United Kingdom waters.

(3) These Regulations shall not apply to or in relation to the activities of a worker which are covered by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 or the Manual Handling Operations Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 .

Section 4 Persons on whom duties are imposed

Where a person on whom a duty is imposed by any provision of these Regulations does not have control of the matter to which the regulation relates because he does not have responsibility for the operation of the ship, then any duty imposed by that regulation shall also extend to any person who has control of that matter.

Section 5 Duties of employers

(1) The employer shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, take appropriate measures or provide means (including mechanical equipment) to avoid the need for manual handling of loads which involve a risk of workers being injured.

(2) Where it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the need for any manual handling operation which involves a risk of injury then the employer shall–

(a) either separately or as an addition to the assessment made under regulation 7 of the General Duties Regulations, carry out an assessment of all such manual handling operations, having regard to the factors which are specified in column 1 of the Schedule to these Regulations and considering the questions which are specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 of that Schedule; and

(b) take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of injury to workers arising out of their undertaking any such manual handling operations to the lowest level that is reasonably practicable; and

(c) take appropriate steps to provide any worker who is undertaking any such manual handling operations with general indications and, where it is reasonably practicable to do so, precise information on–

(i) the weight of each load, and

(ii) the heaviest side of any load which has a centre of gravity which is not positioned centrally; and

(d) provide workers who will be required to undertake any such manual handling operation with proper training and information on how to handle loads correctly and the risks to their health and safety from incorrect handling.

Section 6 Duty of workers

Every worker while at work shall make full and proper use of any system of work provided for his use by his employer in compliance with regulation 5(2)(b).

Section 7 Penalties

(1) Any contravention of regulation 5 shall be an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(2) Any contravention of regulation 6 shall be an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.

Section 8 Offences by body corporate and partnerships

(1) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under any of these Regulations and that offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, the preceding paragraph shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

(3) Where an offence under any of these Regulations committed by a Scottish partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner, he as well as the partnership is guilty of an offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Section 9 Onus of proving what is reasonably practicable

In any proceedings for an offence under any of these Regulations consisting of a failure to comply with a duty or requirement to do something so far as is reasonably practicable, it shall be for the defendant to prove that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement.

Section 10 Inspection and detention of a United Kingdom ship

A relevant inspector may inspect any United Kingdom ship and if he is satisfied that there has been a failure to comply in relation to that ship with the requirements of these Regulations may detain the ship until the health and safety of all persons aboard ship is secured, but shall not in the exercise of this power detain or delay the ship unreasonably.

Section 11 Inspection and other measures in respect of ships registered outside the United Kingdom

(1) A relevant inspector may inspect any ship which is not a United Kingdom ship when the ship is in United Kingdom waters, and if satisfied that the ship does not conform to the standards required of United Kingdom ships by these Regulations, may–

(a) send a report to the government of the country in which the ship is registered, and a copy thereof to the Director General of the International Labour Office; and

(b) where conditions on board are clearly hazardous to health and safety–

(i) take such measures as are necessary to rectify those conditions, or

(ii) detain the ship.

(2) The measures specified in paragraph (1) may be taken only when the ship has called at a United Kingdom port in the normal course of business for operational reasons.

(3) If either of the measures specified in paragraph (1)(b) are taken, the relevant inspector shall forthwith notify the nearest maritime, consular or diplomatic representative of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly.

(4) The relevant inspector shall not in exercise of the power under this regulation detain or delay the ship unreasonably.

Section 12 Enforcement of detention

Where a ship is liable to be detained under these Regulations, section 284(1) to (5) and (8) of the Act (which relates to the detention of the ship) shall apply as if for the words “this Act”, wherever they appear, there were substituted “the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Manual Handling Operations) Regulations 1998”.

Section 13 Compensation

Sections 96 and 97 of the Act (Arbitration and Compensation) shall apply in relation to a detention notice ... under these Regulations as they apply to a detention notice under section 95(3) of the Act, and in such application, “ relevant inspector” means a person making an inspection under these Regulations.