SAFETY EQUIPMENT STANDARD FOR COMMERCIAL VESSELS UPDATED

The National Marine Safety Committee (NMSC) has released for public comment the draft revised standard for the National Standard for Commercial Vessels (NSCV) Part C, Subsection 7A – Safety Equipment.

NSCV C7A (Edition 2) was last published in December 2008 to consolidate two amendments to provide editorial clarity. However, the timing didn’t allow the most up-to-date referencing of other relevant standards so, at the same time, potential issues were fielded with stakeholders to come up with a new draft standard, Edition 3, which will now identify those other standards.

NMSC’s CEO, Margie O’Tarpey said the safety equipment standard is being revised primarily to update the requirements for coastal liferafts and coastal lifejackets by referencing the latest design and construction standards.

“All of our standards are ‘living’ standards as they are always open to revision in response to technological advances or simply the need to align with the level of other related standards or best practice,” O’Tarpey said.

“Overall, the new safety equipment standard includes current references to other parts of the NSCV and is restructured to fall into line with other standards under the NSCV.

“The draft of this revised standard updates the defined weight of persons to reflect current Australian demographics and includes a definition for ‘complement’, the number of passengers and crew allowable on board.

“The standard also now proposes safety equipment requirements for personal water craft — or jetskis as many people would know them — which come within the scope of the standard and are becoming more widely used in commercial operations,” said O’Tarpey.

HAVE YOUR SAY
The draft standard NSCV C7A (Edition 3) can be found at  and click on ‘Have Your Say’. The public comment period closes on October 28, 2009.

Note: The NMSC said
a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) was not deemed necessary by the national Office of Best Regulatory Practice as the changes from Edition 2 to 3 will not incur any significant impact on business, individuals or the economy.

The NMSC said it aims to achieve nationally uniform marine safety practices and is made up of an independent Chair and the CEOs of Australia’s marine safety agencies.