Question 1

The Master discovers that fall-arrest equipment inspection has been allowed to lapse fleet-wide due to a gap in the maintenance scheduling system. What should the Master's response cover beyond just getting the equipment inspected now?

Accepted Answer

Address why the scheduling system failed to flag it — fixing the immediate equipment gap without correcting the underlying tracking failure leaves the same lapse likely to recur Fixing the immediate equipment gap addresses the symptom; the scheduling system failure is the actual root cause, and leaving it uncorrected means the same lapse is likely to recur.

Question 2

A cadet is told a hot work permit was issued "this morning" and asks the bosun how long it's valid for, without checking the form itself. What is the maximum validity period a permit to work can have?

Accepted Answer

24 hours from issue, with any shorter job-specific time limits also stated on the permit COSWP Chapter 14 sets 24 hours as the maximum validity period a permit can be issued for, with any further job-specific time limits stated on the permit itself.

Question 3

An OOW taking over the watch finds a permit for overside work was issued 20 hours ago and the job is still running. The outgoing OOW says it's "basically the same job, don't worry about it." What should the new OOW do?

Accepted Answer

Check elapsed time against the 24-hour limit, recognise it's close to expiry, and flag to the authorising officer that revalidation will be needed rather than letting it lapse unnoticed A permit approaching its validity limit needs proactive attention at handover, not passive monitoring — the new OOW's job is to flag it to the authorising officer before it lapses, not to wait for it to expire.