Enclosed spaces management
UK-based VideotelTM, in conjunction with Mines Rescue Marine, has launched the ‘Enclosed Space Management System’, designed to help effectively assess, audit and manage the safety of enclosed spaces on board vessels and combat the number of accidents and fatalities that all too often occur when problem areas are overlooked.
Aimed towards crew; contractors; surveyors; port state inspectors and office staff; Videotel claim that this is currently “the only computer-based system available that enables vessels and installations to comply with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) adopted Resolution A.1050(27) Revised Recommendations for Entering Enclosed Spaces Aboard Ships, Section 3 – Safety Management for Entry into Enclosed Spaces, as well as the latest SOLAS recommendations for enclosed spaces.”
It provides an auditing process to follow, allowing safety risks to be identified and solutions to be put in place. All crew members can contribute to this ‘living’ system by adding their own comments, photographs and experiential data to each space record, ensuring that knowledge is retained and the risk of safety being affected by crew changes is lowered. It also provides ready access to all essential information needed to enter and work within an enclosed space as safely as possible. Gathered information can be viewed ashore as well as on board and a PDF report can be sent directly to any third party by email, as required. All data entered is stored and hosted, and the system itself is updated at regular intervals to reflect changes in laws and regulations.
Raal Harris, Director of e-Learning & Digital Media at Videotel, explained: “We have spent two years working with Mines Rescue Marine researching and developing the Enclosed Space Management System. The Mines Rescue Service has a vast amount of experience and knowledge, as well as specialist skills in the field of rescuing mineworkers from underground. This, combined with Videotel’s expertise in training and e-Learning, has resulted in a practical, easy-to-use system designed to become an essential part of everyday life in the shipping industry.”
Adam Allan, Managing Director of Mines Rescue Marine told Maritime Journal: ‘’This is the culmination of a two-year project initiated by our realisation that one of the major problems on ships and offshore installations was the lack of detailed audited information on enclosed spaces, and a specifically designed depository for it. We felt that if we could provide a facility which shares information with not only crew members, but others working on board, such as surveyors and contractors, it would considerably increase the safety of people entering and working in these spaces. Together with our partner Videotel, we developed the Enclosed Space Management System, the only such system in the world. We believe it will change the way in which enclosed spaces are dealt with forever.”
By Jake Frith
