Question 1

A Master, justifying a decision to skip a costly and time-consuming control measure identified in a risk assessment, argues that implementing it wasn't 'practicable' given the time available in port. Is time pressure alone a sufficient legal basis for this kind of decision under UK law's 'reasonably practicable' standard?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily — the long-established legal test (from Edwards v National Coal Board) weighs the risk against the sacrifice (in money, time, or trouble) required to avert it, and requires the sacrifice to be grossly disproportionate to the risk before it can be reasonably omitted; ordinary schedule inconvenience is unlikely to meet that bar for a significant risk The 'reasonably practicable' standard, as established in UK case law, requires a gross disproportion between the cost of a precaution and the risk it addresses before the precaution can be reasonably omitted — ordinary commercial time pressure, without more, is unlikely to meet that threshold for a control measure addressing a significant risk, and citing time pressure alone does not automatically discharge the legal burden.

Question 2

A cadet is told that risk assessment on board isn't just one document but happens at four different levels, including something as informal as a quick personal check before starting a task. What are these four levels, broadly?

Accepted Answer

Generic risk assessments (company-level), task-based risk assessments (onboard, specific to the job), toolbox talks (discussing the assessment with those doing the work), and personal/dynamic assessment (an individual's ongoing informal check while working) COSWP describes a four-level structure: generic risk assessments set by the company, task-based risk assessments (TBRA) carried out onboard for specific jobs, toolbox talks that walk the team through the TBRA before work starts, and personal/dynamic risk assessment carried out informally by the individual as work proceeds.

Question 3

An OOW is about to lead a small team in a non-routine, high-risk job — entry into a void space that hasn't been entered in months. A generic company risk assessment exists for enclosed space entry in general. What additional level(s) of assessment does the OOW need before this specific job can proceed?

Accepted Answer

A task-based risk assessment specific to this entry and these personnel, followed by a toolbox talk walking the team through its findings before work begins Generic risk assessments don't capture ship- and task-specific factors at the time of the job — a non-routine, high-risk task like this needs its own task-based risk assessment, with a toolbox talk to brief the team on its findings before starting.