The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
In March 1987 the P&O ferry Herald of Free Enterprise sank outside Zeebrugge, resulting in 188 deaths.
An inquiry led to a considerable number of safety improvements. Now, in what the TUC describes as “another outbreak of deregulatory zeal,” the government want to remove some of these regulations.
Writing in the Stronger Unions blog, TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson notes: “It is not because this type of ferry no longer operates. There are 84 similar ferries flying the British flag. Nor is it because new designs mean that the regulations are no longer needed, after all the regulations are not about ferry design but safety measures. It is because the requirements are seen as being ‘red-tape’ and a cost to business… Their justification for removing safety rules brought in after the Zeebrugge disaster is that they go beyond the requirements for ships operating in countries like the Philippines or Bangladesh.”
Among the provisions to be cut is the requirement for watertight emergency lockers on the open deck that can be accessed if the ship capsizes. These are for things like axes and ladders. The justification for lifting the requirement is that “even if a situation occurred where the equipment could be used, it is unlikely that he degree of crew organisation necessary to make use of it could be maintained in the face of a catastrophic capsize.”
The consultation document adds that the government has been advised that a ship may sink too fast to use the equipment.
Also for the axe is a requirement to weigh cargo to ensure a ship is not overloaded – again, not because it is not a necessary safety rule, but because it only applies to UK ships.
According to TUC’s Hugh Robertson: “Of all the pieces of stupid, dangerous, ideologically-driven, anti-regulatory, claptrap, this is up there along with the proposals to exempt the self-employed from the Health and Safety at Work Act.” He added: “To say that you want to remove safety regulations solely because other countries do not have them is just part of the dangerous and reckless race to the bottom that this government has excelled in.”
Four passengers on an Isle of Wight ferry were hospitalised on 19 July after the upper car deck of the St Helen collapsed.
