Filter content
by selecting applicable filters below
Indicator 3.5.23
Requirement
The UoC shall ensure that commercial divers undergo annual medical tests to confirm they are fit to dive.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
By ensuring that divers are healthy enough to dive, this minimises the risk of negative impacts to their health and safety during dives.
-
If a diver has been subcontracted from a diving company, the UoC can ensure that the diving company have taken responsibility for the medical tests.
-
Some countries have requirements that medical professionals have to undergo particular training or have particular qualifications to confirm someone’s fitness to work as a commercial diver.
Evidence of Implementation
-
records of medical certificates of fitness to dive, signed by a qualified medical professional.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
management understand the importance of divers being medically fit and healthy;
-
management are able to confirm that all divers are medically fit to dive, whether they have been directly employed or are subcontracted through a diving company.
Indicator 3.5.22
Requirement
The UoC shall ensure that any person involved in commercial diving activities holds commercial diver certification through an accredited organisation.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
Different countries have different certifications for commercial diving, but a normal scuba certification is not and should never be accepted as adequate commercial diver training.
Evidence of Implementation
-
commercial diver certificates for all commercial divers working at the UoC.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
management understand the relevant qualifications that divers should have to be allowed to dive commercially;
-
management are able to confirm that all divers are properly certified, whether they have been directly employed or are subcontracted through a diving company.
Indicator 3.5.21
Requirement
The UoC shall log all commercial diving activities and maintain records, including a list of any persons involved.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
Commercial divers are professional divers who engage in underwater operations and have specific skills and qualifications.
-
Through keeping records of commercial diving activities, the UoC can:
-
monitor time spent diving
-
ensure qualifications of commercial divers
-
ensure that appropriate health and safety measures are in place.
-
-
The types of records to keep depends on local regulations and the type of dive certification. At a minimum, records include:
-
dives
-
time
-
depth
-
surface time
-
associated dive table records.
-
This is usually recorded with a dive safety checklist.
-
These records are also used for the daily diving plan.
-
Evidence of Implementation
-
complete diving records
-
list of persons involved in diving at the UoC.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
diving records are properly maintained for each dive and are up-to-date.
Indicator 3.5.20
Requirement
The UoC shall ensure that machinery and equipment: a) is compliant with applicable legal regulations or other recognised standards; and b) is safely installed, maintained and safeguarded; and c) is only operated by trained employees.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
Accidents and injuries involving machinery and equipment can arise from:
-
misuse
-
malfunctioning
-
bypassing, disabling or malfunctioning safety features.
-
-
All machinery and equipment should be:
-
compliant with national or other recognised health and safety standards
-
appropriately installed, maintained and safeguarded.
-
Only employees trained to use machinery and equipment are permitted to operate it.
-
-
Examples of improper use of machinery may include:
-
bypassing or disabling emergency stop buttons, guards or interlocks to speed up processes
-
overloading equipment and machinery beyond its capacity
-
using equipment for a purpose it is not intended for
-
making unauthorised modifications
-
ignoring or disabling safety signals.
-
Safely installed usually includes being installed according to manufacturer’s instructions.
-
Safeguarded means that any warning notices and operational guidance are in place for the machinery and equipment.
-
Evidence of Implementation
-
records of who is trained to use the machinery or equipment
-
maintenance records for machinery and equipment
-
instruction manuals for the use of equipment.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
employees understand who is allowed to operate the machinery and equipment;
-
the UoC has a process in place to ensure the maintenance and upkeep of the machinery and equipment.
Indicator 3.5.19
Requirement
The UoC shall ensure that all buildings and structures on the site are safe to use through adequate construction, maintenance and repair.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
Without adequate construction, maintenance and repair, buildings could collapse if subjected to external forces, which could have devastating results.
-
Materials can wear out over time, so continuous inspection and testing structures is important.
-
Ensuring adequate construction, maintenance and repair involves regular monitoring by a knowledgeable, designated person, and maintenance and repair.
-
Understanding when and by whom construction, maintenance and repair should be checked is a result of the health and safety risk assessment (Indicator 3.5.1).
Evidence of Implementation
-
documentation about any surveys or construction carried out at the UoC
-
maintenance records.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
someone at the UoC is responsible for the wear and tear of the building and for overseeing any construction and maintenance work and has the resources to carry out needed works.
Indicator 3.5.18
Requirement
The UoC shall provide access to an appropriate and clean area to prepare food and eat during breaks.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
The provision of a clean area to prepare food is important for employees’ health and for reducing the risk of illness.
-
In warm climates, there should be adequate shade for employees to have their breaks in.
Evidence of Implementation
-
available place to prepare food and eat.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
employees are able to prepare food and eat in a clean and hygienic space.
Indicator 3.5.17
Requirement
The UoC shall provide access to free, clearly labelled, drinking water.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
Access to drinking water is essential for employees’ health and the UoC is responsible for ensuring that:
-
employees know where they can access water
-
the water is clean and appropriate for drinking
-
employees are not charged for drinking water.
-
Access to drinking water is particularly important in extreme heat and the UoC should be aware that they may need to provide more regular breaks and more opportunities for drinking water in hot weather.
-
Evidence of Implementation
-
available drinking water stations around the site.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
employees understand that they are free to access drinking water and they know where they can find it.
Indicator 3.5.16
Requirement
The UoC shall provide access to appropriate sanitary facilities that: a) are clean and hygienic; and b) include adequate privacy measures; and c) include separation by gender if required; and d) are sufficient for the number of people using them.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
Sanitary facilities:
-
are clean
-
are dry
-
are warm
-
have a source of ventilation (e.g. a window or fan)
-
have adequate lighting
-
have doors that close and lock for privacy.
-
-
Facilities include one of the following:
-
pit latrines
-
flush toilets
-
urinals.
-
Taps and running water are also available.
-
For women, facilities for safe disposal of sanitary products are provided.
-
Facilities are constructed of hard materials that are easy to clean.
-
Waste and wastewater are regularly disposed of in accordance with Criterion 2.11: Material Use, Waste and Pollution Control.
-
They are separated by gender, where required.
-
Evidence of Implementation
-
presence of clean and appropriate sanitary facilities that are accessible to all employees
-
records of cleaning services.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
employees report that sanitary facilities are appropriate and they are able to access them without issue;
-
it is clear who has the responsibility for cleaning the facilities and that this happens on a regular basis.
Indicator 3.5.15
Requirement
The UoC shall ensure that any person who handles or comes into contact with hazardous substances has access to appropriate changing and washing facilities.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
Hazardous substances that are often used in aquaculture can include:
-
disinfectants as part of biosecurity protocols
-
herbicides and pesticides used in pond maintenance
-
spawning aids
-
vaccines used in disease prevention
-
marking agents used in resource management.
-
-
Contact with some substances can be harmful to employees and can cause ill health or injury, but this is preventable through:
-
the correct use of PPE
-
providing changing and washing facilities, including soap, for:
-
washing hands or skin that has come into contact with hazardous substances
-
washing out eyes
-
changing out of clothes that have come into contact with hazardous substances.
-
-
Evidence of Implementation
-
availability of changing and washing facilities in easily accessible places.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
employees understand the risk of working with different hazardous substances;
-
employees are aware of the correct procedures to handle hazardous substances;
-
employees understand what to do if they come into contact with hazardous substances.
Useful Resources
Indicator 3.5.14
Requirement
The UoC shall, where not provided by a state or national social security or health system, provide and pay for insurance or have a system to cover costs for all employees for all work-related accidents or injuries. This shall include at least the following: a) the cost for transport and medical treatment and medication needed to treat the accident or injury; and b) the cost for transport and medical treatment and medication needed for recovery; and c) compensation for lost working hours; and d) cost for any required repatriation in case of migrant workers.
How Do I Interpret This Requirement?
-
The UoC is responsible for caring for its employees and protecting them from any financial impacts of an accident or injury.
-
The UoC should ensure that employees are protected from unfair dismissal if they are unable to work for long periods.
-
Depending on the level of the national social security of the country where the site is located, there are likely to be different costs that the UoC is responsible for.
-
For example: an employee injures his back lifting boxes of feed from a truck. He suffers an acute injury, falls down and struggles to stand. The site manager provides him with some painkillers from the first aid kit and takes him in a site vehicle to the nearest hospital. The employee receives some x-rays and is diagnosed as having strained his back and is given pain relief and told he cannot work for 3 weeks. The site manager does not charge the employee for the painkillers from the first aid kit, or the transport to the hospital. The UoC pays the full hospital bill and continues paying the employee’s salary for the 3 weeks that he is off work.
-
If this incident took place in Country A, where there is a social security and healthcare system, the site manager does not charge the employee for the painkillers from the first aid kit, or the transport to the hospital. The UoC does not have to pay any hospital bill because the national health system pays for that. The UoC does not have to pay any of the employee’s salary for the 3 weeks that he is off work because that is covered by the national social security system.
-
If this incident took place in Country B, where there is no social security and healthcare system, the UoC pays all of the costs, as outlined above.
-
Evidence of Implementation
-
information about what is provided by the national government
-
documentation showing how the site will cover or pay for any costs that are not covered by the national government, for example, insurance documents.
Auditors Should Confirm
-
the UoC has the right plans in place for paying costs of workplace injuries;
-
management understands their role and responsibility in covering these costs;
-
employees understand what happens financially if they have a workplace injury.
