Published on: 05 August 2021
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has released Marine Guidance Note (MGN) 658. This notice provides guidance on the requirements for the protection of seafarers, fishermen and workers, from the risks related to exposure to noise at work, according to the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Control of Noise at Work) Regulations 2007, which came into force on 23 February 2008.
Information contained in this notice reflects the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention – MLC) (Health and Safety) (Amendment) Regulations (S.I. 2014/1616) (“the MLC Health and Safety amendments”) and the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Consequential and Minor Amendments) Regulations (S.I. 2018/1109) (the “Work in Fishing Consequential Amendments”).
This notice updates references to EU Directive 2003/10/EC (European Commission) which has been in effect in the UK prior to the 1 January 2021 and is now retained in UK law as the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Control of Noise at Work) Regulations 2007, after the end of the EU Exit implementation period.
MGN 658 can be downloaded here.
The MCA has also released an amendment to MGN 353 The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Control of Vibration at Work) Regulations 2007. This notice provides guidance on the requirements for the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to noise at work arising from the implementation in the United Kingdom of European Commission Directive 2002/44/EC by the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Control of Vibration at Work) Regulations 2007, which came into force on 23 February 2008.
Amendment 1 reflects the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Health and Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1616) (“the MLC Health and Safety amendments”) and the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Consequential and Minor Amendments) Regulations (S.I. 2018/1109) (the “Work in Fishing Consequential Amendments”).
The EU Directive 2002/44/EC – Vibration 1 has been in effect in the UK prior to the 1 January 2021 and is now retained in UK law, after the end of the EU Exit implementation period.
MGN 353 can be downloaded here.
Please note that: the above amendments should not be regarded as definitive. The way these Regulations apply to any particular case can vary according to circumstances and from vessel to vessel. Each shipowner, fishing vessel owner and employer should therefore assess how the requirements of these Regulations apply to the specific circumstances of each vessel and introduce measures to implement those requirements accordingly.
These amendments extend the duties to protect “workers” in health and safety legislation so that they protect all seafarers and fishermen, regardless of their employment status, and duties on employers also apply to shipowners and fishing vessel owners. References in this notice are therefore “shipowners and employers” and “seafarers and other workers.” In both notice statements, “shipowner” includes “fishing vessel owner”, and “seafarer” includes “fisherman”.