Question 1

When a job combines multiple hazard categories (e.g. height work, hot work, and RF isolation, as might occur during major mast/antenna maintenance), what is the Master's specific responsibility regarding the overall plan?

Accepted Answer

Ensuring all relevant permits are coordinated (e.g. via a master log of permits), that no permit's precautions conflict with or undermine another's, and that overall accountability for the combined operation is clear Combined-hazard jobs are exactly where individual permits can interact in unexpected ways (e.g. a hot work fire watch needing to also respect a height work exclusion zone) — the Master's overall accountability for the permit-to-work system means ensuring this coordination happens, not just that each permit exists in isolation.

Question 2

During a busy port call with reduced crew available, the Chief Officer requests the Master's authorisation to have a single experienced AB go aloft alone for a five-minute job, with no observer, citing time pressure. Should the Master approve this request?

Accepted Answer

No — lone height work should not be authorised regardless of experience or task duration; the Master should direct that the task wait for an observer to be available or be carried out by an alternative method Task duration and individual experience do not address the core problem with lone working: if something goes wrong, there is no one present to notice or respond. Time pressure during a busy port call is precisely the situation in which this control matters most, not least.

Question 3

Midway through an overside task, the worker's radio battery dies and there is no backup communication method that was agreed in advance. What is the correct response from the deck observer?

Accepted Answer

Treat the loss of communication as a trigger to pause the task and recover the worker, since the absence of an agreed backup method means there is no reliable way to receive an instruction or distress call Without a pre-agreed backup, visual-only contact in noisy or obstructed conditions is unreliable, and the worker has no way to signal an emerging problem that isn't visually obvious — the safest response is to recover them and re-establish proper communication before resuming.