Before we start, you need to have some idea about types hatch covers and typical sizes.
Opening and Closing of hatch cover
Safety when working with hatch covers
Chapter 16
HATCH COVERS AND ACCESS LIDS (Booby hatches)
When handling hatch covers and access lids, use appropriate personal protective equipment.
Before a vessel departs to sea, all weather deck hatch covers should be secured in the correct closed position. Whilst the vessel is at sea, they should be regularly inspected to ensure that integrity is maintained.
All personnel involved with the handling and/or operation of hatch covers should be properly instructed in their handling and operation. All stages of opening or closing hatches should be supervised by a responsible person.
When hatches are open, the area around the opening and in the hatchways should be appropriately illuminated and guardrails erected where necessary. Guardrails should be tight, with stanchions secured in position, and properly maintained.
When lifting appliances are used, they should be attached to hatch covers from a safe position and without personnel being exposed to any danger.
Mechanical hatch covers
The manufacturer’s instructions for the safe operation, inspection, maintenance and repair of the type of mechanical hatch cover fitted should always be followed.
During operations, personnel should keep clear of the hatches and the cover stowage positions. The area should be kept clear of all items that might foul (obstruct) the covers or the handling equipment.
Special attention should be paid to the trim of the vessel when handling mechanical covers (There is danger of hatch covers rolling due to own weight, like a parked car on a slope). The hatch locking pins or preventers of rolling hatch covers should not be removed until a check wire is fast to prevent premature rolling when the tracking is not horizontal.
Hatch wheels should be kept greased and free from dirt and the coaming runways and drainage channels kept clean. The rubber sealing joints should be properly secured and in good condition so as to provide a proper weather-tight seal.
All locking and tightening devices should be secured in place on a closed hatch at all times when at sea. Securing cleats should be kept greased. Cleats, top-wedges and other tightening devices should be checked regularly whilst at sea.
Hatch covers should be properly secured immediately after closing or opening. They should be secured in the open position with chain preventers or by other suitable means. No one should climb on to any hatch cover unless it is properly secured.
Except in the event of an emergency endangering health or safety, no person should operate a hatch covering that is power-operated unless authorized to do so by a responsible ship’s officer.
Non-mechanical hatch covers
Each non-mechanical hatchway should be provided with an appropriate number of properly fitting hatch covers, pontoons or slab hatches, which are adequately marked to show the correct replacement position.
Pontoon hatches and hatch slabs should be handled with care and properly stowed, stacked so as not to endanger or impede the normal running of the vessel.
When a crane or derrick is used to handle pontoons or slab hatches, it should be positioned directly over them to lessen the risk of violent swinging once the weight has been taken.
Appropriate gear of adequate strength should be specially provided for the lifting of pontoons and slab hatches. The crane or winch should be operated by a competent person under the direction of a ship’s officer or other experienced person.
Hatch covers should not be removed or replaced until a check has been made that all persons are out of the hold or clear of the hatchway.
Steel-hinged inspection/access lids
Inspection/access hatch lids should be constructed of steel or similar material, and hinged so they can be easily and safely opened or closed. Those on weather decks should be seated on watertight rubber gaskets and secured weather tight by adequate dogs, side cleats or equivalent tightening devices.
When not secured, inspection/access hatch lids should be capable of being easily and safely opened from above and from below.
Adequate handgrips should be provided in accessible positions to lift inspection/access hatches by hand without straining or endangering personnel.
Heavy or inaccessible hatch lids should be fitted with counterweights so that they can easily be opened by one or two persons. Where a counterweight cannot be fitted due to inaccessibility, the hatch lids should be supplied with a purchase or pulley with eye-plates or ringbolts fitted in appropriate positions so that the hatch can be opened and closed without straining or endangering personnel.
The hatch lids when open should be easily and safely secured against movement or accidental closing. Adequate locking pins, steel hooks or other means should be provided.
Access to holds/cargo/other spaces (Always considered as Dangerous spaces)
Entry to holds/cargo/other spaces should only be undertaken on the authority of a responsible ship’s officer, who should ensure prior to granting authority that the space has been adequately ventilated and, where appropriate, tested for noxious gases/oxygen content. All other appropriate pre-entry precautions should be undertaken.
Entry should be made through the permanent means of access. When this is not possible, portable ladders may be used. Where necessary, lifelines and safety harnesses should be used.