Fire and Boat Drills Regulations (SOR/2010-83)

Marginal note:Passenger details

• 11 (1) The master of a vessel that carries passengers shall, before the vessel embarks on one of the following voyages, ensure that the name and gender of each person on board the vessel are recorded in a way that distinguishes between adults, children and infants:

  • (a) an unlimited voyage or a near coastal voyage, Class 1;

  • (b) a voyage longer than 12 hours; or

  • (c) a voyage on which there is at least one assigned passenger berth.

• Marginal note:Records

  (2) The master of the vessel shall ensure that information recorded under this section is

  • (a) kept on shore in a manner that makes it readily available to search and rescue services; and

  • (b) updated if any passengers embark or disembark during the voyage.

• Marginal note:Information privacy

  (3) Personal information recorded under this section may be used or disclosed only for search and rescue purposes.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (4) The following definitions apply in subsection (1).

  adult

  adult means a person who is 12 years of age or older. (adulte)

  child

  child means a person who is five years of age or older but under 12 years of age. (enfant)

  infant

  infant means a person who is under five years of age. (enfant en bas âge)

Marginal note:Missing passengers

12 The master of a vessel that carries passengers shall ensure that procedures are in place for locating and rescuing passengers who are trapped in their staterooms or who are otherwise unaccounted for during an emergency.

Practice Musters and Safety Briefings

Marginal note:Practice muster

• 13 (1) If passengers are scheduled to be on board a vessel for more than 24 hours, the master of the vessel shall ensure that a practice muster of the passengers and crew is held as soon as practicable but not later than 24 hours after the passengers embark.

• Marginal note:Safety briefing

  (2) If passengers are scheduled to be on board a vessel for 24 hours or less and a practice muster is not held, the master of the vessel shall ensure that, immediately before or after the vessel embarks on a voyage, a safety briefing is given to the passengers informing them of the safety and emergency procedures that are relevant to the type and size of the vessel.

• Marginal note:Requirements

  (3) The master of a vessel referred to in subsection (2) shall ensure that the safety briefing

  • (a) informs the passengers of the essential actions they must take during an emergency;

  • (b) specifies the location of lifejackets, survival craft and muster stations;

  • (c) informs the passengers in each area of the vessel of the location of the lifejackets and survival craft that are closest to them;

  • (d) instructs the passengers in the donning and use of their lifejackets;

  • (e) is given in either or both official languages, according to the needs of the passengers;

  • (f) is given on the vessel’s public address system if the vessel has one; and

  • (g) is given in a way that is likely to be understood by the passengers.

• Marginal note:New passengers

  (4) If new passengers embark after a practice muster has been held on a vessel, the master of the vessel is not required to hold another practice muster if a safety briefing that meets the requirements of subsection (3) is given to the new passengers before the vessel continues on its voyage.

Marginal note:Duties of crew

14 During a practice muster of passengers and crew, the crew members shall perform the duties assigned to them, including

• (a) summoning the passengers to their designated muster stations;

• (b) keeping order in passageways and on stairways and generally controlling the movements of the passengers as they proceed to their designated muster stations;

• (c) assembling the passengers at their designated muster stations and ensuring that they are all accounted for;

• (d) locating and rescuing passengers who are trapped in their staterooms or who are otherwise unaccounted for;

• (e) instructing the passengers in dressing adequately for protection against exposure and in the donning and use of their lifejackets;

• (f) ensuring that the passengers have donned their lifejackets correctly;

• (g) ensuring that the passengers are made aware of how the order to abandon ship is given; and

• (h) instructing the passengers in the actions that they must take during an emergency, including how to enter marine evacuation systems at the embarkation stations and board survival craft.

Means of Exit

Marginal note:Means of exit

• 15 (1) The master of a vessel that carries passengers and is made fast at a dock for a purpose other than embarking or disembarking passengers shall, if there are passengers on board, ensure that the vessel is provided with more than one means of exit from the vessel.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (2) The means of exit shall be

  • (a) gangways with means of access from the various decks in the vessel; or

  • (b) other means of escape that allow the passengers to reach places of safety during an emergency if the vessel’s conditions of operation do not permit the use of more than one gangway.

Drills

General

Marginal note:Notification

16 Before sounding a signal for the commencement of a drill, the master of a vessel shall ensure that all passengers are notified, in either or both official languages, according to their needs, that a drill will be held and that there is no actual emergency.

Marginal note:Manner of carrying out

17 The master of a vessel shall ensure that drills, in so far as is feasible, are carried out as if there were an actual emergency.

Marginal note:Equipment and installations

18 The master of a vessel shall ensure that any equipment or installations used during a drill are immediately returned to their full operational condition and are ready for immediate reuse, and that any faults or defects discovered in equipment or installations during a drill are remedied as soon as practicable.

Marginal note:Reporting to stations

19 Unless otherwise instructed in a notification referred to in section 16, if the general emergency alarm signal or the fire alarm signal is sounded, the passengers, if any, shall proceed to their designated muster stations and the crew members shall report to their designated muster stations and prepare to perform their assigned duties as described in the muster list.

Obligation to Hold and to Participate in Drills

Marginal note:Intervals

• 20 (1) The master of a vessel described in column 1 of the schedule that is on a voyage described in column 2 shall ensure that a fire drill and a survival craft drill are held on board the vessel at least once during each period set out in column 3.

• Marginal note:Fire drills

  (2) The master of the vessel shall ensure that a fire drill for the crew of the vessel is held within 24 hours after the vessel embarks on a voyage if more than 25% of the crew did not participate in a fire drill on board the vessel during the month before the vessel embarks.

• Marginal note:Survival craft drills

  (3) The master of the vessel shall ensure that a survival craft drill for the crew of the vessel is held within 24 hours after the vessel embarks on a voyage if more than 25% of the crew did not participate in a survival craft drill on board the vessel during the month before the vessel embarks.

Marginal note:Crew participation

21 Every member of the crew of a vessel shall participate in at least one fire drill and one survival craft drill every month.

Marginal note:Additional drills

22 In addition to the drills required under section 20, the master of a vessel shall ensure that enough fire drills and survival craft drills for the crew of the vessel are held to ensure that the entire crew is at all times competent and operationally ready to respond to the emergencies addressed by the drills.

Fire Drills

Marginal note:Considerations

23 The master of a vessel shall ensure that fire drills are planned in such a way that due consideration is given to the practice followed in the various emergencies that could occur, depending on the type of vessel and its cargo.

Marginal note:Crew duties

24 During a fire drill, the master of a vessel shall ensure that the crew members perform the duties assigned to them in connection with the fire drill, including

• (a) mustering the passengers, if any;

• (b) locating and rescuing passengers, if any, who are trapped in their staterooms or who are otherwise unaccounted for;

• (c) locating and rescuing crew members who are trapped in their accommodations or who are otherwise unaccounted for;

• (d) checking the operation of the fire doors, fire dampers and main inlets and outlets of the ventilation systems;

• (e) closing the fire doors, valves, scuppers, side scuttles, skylights, portholes and other similar openings in the vessel;

• (f) inspecting and operating the fire pump or, if the vessel has one, the emergency fire pump using at least two jets of water in order to ensure that the system is in proper working order;

• (g) inspecting the fire fighting equipment that is fitted or carried on the vessel, other than the fire fighting equipment referred to in paragraph (f), including

  • (i) fire fighters’ outfits and other personal rescue equipment,

  • (ii) the sprinkler systems,

  • (iii) the fire alarm systems,

  • (iv) the fire detection system, and

  • (v) the fire hoses and hydrants;

• (h) inspecting and testing the relevant communications equipment, including the public address systems, alarm systems and klaxons;

• (i) inspecting and testing the emergency lighting and power systems;

• (j) preparing the survival craft and their equipment; and

• (k) checking the necessary arrangements for a subsequent abandonment of the vessel.

Survival Craft Drills

Marginal note:Crew lists and duties

• 25 (1) Before a survival craft drill is held, the person in charge of a survival craft and his or her second-in-command shall each have a list of the survival craft crew members, and the person in charge shall ensure that the crew members know what their duties are.

• Marginal note:Crew duties

  (2) During a survival craft drill, the master of a vessel shall ensure that the crew members perform the duties assigned to them in connection with the survival craft drill, including

  • (a) mustering the passengers, if any;

  • (b) locating and rescuing passengers, if any, who are trapped in their staterooms or who are otherwise unaccounted for;

  • (c) locating and rescuing crew members who are trapped in their accommodations or who are otherwise unaccounted for;

  • (d) preparing for the launching of the survival craft and ensuring that the equipment and supplies, including a supply of blankets, that are required to be carried in the survival craft are in place and properly stowed;

  • (e) inspecting and, if practicable, testing the radio life saving equipment that is required to be carried in the survival craft;

  • (f) operating the davits used for launching life rafts;

  • (g) if the vessel carries motor lifeboats, starting and operating the lifeboat motors and verifying that the fuel tanks are filled to capacity;

  • (h) if the vessel carries survival craft other than lifeboats, participating in instruction in the operation and deployment of those survival craft;

  • (i) if the vessel is fitted with a marine evacuation system, carrying out the procedures required for the deployment of the system up to the point immediately preceding its actual deployment;

  • (j) testing the emergency lighting for the mustering of passengers and crew and for the abandonment of the vessel; and

  • (k) inspecting and testing the life saving appliances that are fitted or carried on the vessel, other than those referred to in paragraph (e) or (j) or in section 30.