A risk assessment tool for the ship recycling industry

Abstract

Ship recycling operations expose workers to a wide range of hazards that can cause a large number of incidents and accidents resulting in ill health, injuries and even death. In order to facilitate effective risk reduction within ship recycling yards, there is a need to develop an appropriate risk assessment method that is supportive and simple to use. In addition, the utilised method should involve end-user participation which is very important in assisting the realisation and acceptance of required health and safety measures. In this paper, a new bespoke risk assessment methodology for ship recycling, 'The Three Step Risk Assessment Method for Ship Recycling' (Three Step Method) will be presented which fulfils the criteria's mentioned above. This paper will document the Three Step Method's development and explain its various steps of implementation before introducing a case study and feedback of a practical application of the method. Finally, the conclusions that the Three Step Method provides a proven useful dialogue in the identification, assessment and mitigation of hazards and that the method can be easily implemented in the ship repair industry will be made.

Shipyards and Ship breaking: Opportunities for utilization of steel under the prism of Circular Economy

“…Unfortunately, the practices and prevailing conditions in the ship dismantling facilities make this process dangerous both for the environment and for the human health and safety of workers (Jain et al, 2013). Regulations governing the ship breaking industry are framed by the Basel Convention, the Hong Kong Convention and the European Ship Recycling Directive, the mandatory implementation of which has increased the burden on shipping companies and for additional design and management work on shipyards and ship breaking yards (Kurt et al, 2015). The dismantling of a ship automatically means the end of it's life cycle.…”