34. Whenever hot work is to be performed in a working area

• (a) a qualified person shall be assigned to patrol the working area and adjoining areas and maintain therein a fire protection watch for the duration of the work and for a period of 30 minutes thereafter; and

• (b) sufficient fire extinguishers shall be provided in the working area and adjoining areas.

35. Oxygen shall not be used

• (a) for ventilation purposes;

• (b) as a pressure testing medium;

• (c) to blow out pipelines;

• (d) to operate pneumatic equipment;

• (e) to start internal combustion engines; or

• (f) to clean working areas, equipment or other articles.

36. Every galley range and the exhaust hood and duct thereof shall be kept free from accumulated grease and other waste deposits.

• 37. (1) Space heaters shall not be fitted on board a ship without the permission of the owner of the ship.

• (2) When space heaters are fitted on board a ship, they shall be safely located and securely fastened in place.

38. When a ship’s fire pumps are inoperative and the ship is in dry dock or moored alongside a wharf,

• (a) sufficient fire hydrants and hoses shall be available, adjacent to the ship, for use in extinguishing a fire on board the ship; or

• (b) a water supply, sufficient to fight a fire on board the ship, shall be connected to the ship’s fire main.

• 39. (1) Fire alarms, fire hydrants, sprinkler and smothering system control valves, fire extinguishers and other fire extinguishing equipment shall be accessible at all times.

• (2) Tools and fittings for use with fire hydrants and hoses or with sprinkler and smothering systems shall be located alongside the fire extinguishing equipment and secured by means of light chains or suitable fixtures.

• 40. (1) Whenever a fire extinguisher is discharged or emptied, it shall be recharged as soon as possible and returned to its proper location.

• (2) When a fire extinguisher is removed from a ship for service or overhaul, an equivalent means of fire protection shall be provided for the area from which the extinguisher was taken.

• (3) This section does not apply in respect of a ship that is laid up when fire extinguishers have been emptied or removed and alternative arrangements have been made for fire protection.

41. No person shall overhaul or repair a smothering gas system unless the gas bottles thereof have been disconnected or otherwise rendered inoperative.

• 42. (1) Hot work shall not be performed in a working area

  • (a) where inflammable gas, vapour or dust may be present in the atmosphere, unless the area has been freed of gas, tested by a marine chemist and found to be safe for that work to be performed therein;

  • (b) where an explosive or inflammable substance may be present in the working area, unless a qualified person has ensured that adequate protection exists to permit that work to be safely performed therein; and

  • (c) where the area is a tank that has previously contained petroleum or petroleum products, until the tank is found to be safe for the work to be performed therein by a qualified person who has had at least three years experience of which a minimum of 150 working hours has been gained under proper supervision in the testing and inspection of such tanks.

• (2) Where a marine chemist finds the atmosphere in a working area to be safe as described in paragraph (1)(a) or where a qualified person has ensured that adequate protection exists in a working area as described in paragraph (1)(b), he shall complete and sign a certificate or statement to that effect.

• (3) The certificate or statement referred to in subsection (2) shall

  • (a) be available for the information of any person entering the working area; and

  • (b) indicate

    • (i) the location of the working area,

    • (ii) any special precaution that is to be observed, and

    • (iii) any subsequent tests that are, in the opinion of the marine chemist or qualified person, required to maintain the safe condition.