Does "Subpart F - General Working Conditions" Apply to You?

Subpart F provides the requirements for general working conditions in shipyard employment. According to scope, application, definitions, and effective dates, this includes work on vessels, on vessel sections, and at landside operations, regardless of geographic location. Do your employees work on vessels, on vessel sections, or at landside operations, regardless of geographic location? This should be yes as this subpart provides general working conditions that should apply to most, if not all, of your operations.

This subpart includes the standards on housekeeping (i.e., maintaining good housekeeping, eliminating slippery conditions, walkway maintenance, maintaining working surfaces), lighting (i.e., maintaining adequate lighting, use of temporary lights, portable lights, and explosion-proof self-contained lights), utilities (i.e., steam supply system, steam hoses, electric shore power, heat lamps), medical services and first aid (i.e., readily accessible, advice and consultation, first aid providers, first aid supplies, quick drenching and flushing facilities, basket stretchers), sanitation (i.e., accessible sanitation facilities, potable water, non-potable water, toilets, handwashing facilities, showers, eating, drinking and break areas, waste disposal, vermin control), safety color code for marking physical hazards (i.e., color codes to be used for fire (red), danger (red), stop (red); physical hazards (yellow) and caution (yellow), accident prevention signs and tags (i.e., danger, biohazard, slow moving vehicle, caution), and retention of DOT markings, placards, and labels (i.e., retention of markings, placards and labels). Appendix A for this subpart provides guidance on first aid kits and automated external defibrillators.

Additional information for these standards can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics pages for medical services and first aid, electrical safety, and eyewash stations and emergency showers.

In addition, it provides the standards for working alone, vessel's radar and communication systems, lifeboats, servicing machinery, equipment and systems, use of motor vehicles, powered industrial trucks, and single and multi-piece rim wheels. Do your employees work alone? Do employees work on or around a vessel's radar and communication system? Do you have lifeboats? Do employees service machinery, equipment and/or systems? Are motor vehicles used at the worksite to transport employees, materials, or property? Do you have powered industrial trucks? Do employees service multi-piece and single piece rim wheels? If you said yes to any of these questions, click on the appropriate tabs below for more information.

 

Subpart F - General Working Conditions

Tab/Accordion Items

If yes, then you need to comply with the standard on working alone. This standard provides requirements for employees working alone in confined spaces and isolated areas. It also requires accounting (i.e., visual, verbal) for employees at regular intervals during and at the end of the workshift.

Confined space means a compartment of small size and limited access such as a double bottom tank, cofferdam, or other space which by its small size and confined nature can readily create or aggravate a hazardous exposure.

More information related to confined spaces can be found in subpart B - confined and enclosed spaces and other dangerous atmospheres in shipyard employment and the standard on access to cargo spaces and confined spaces.

Additional information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics page for confined spaces.

If yes, then you need to comply with the standard on vessel radar and communication systems. This standard requires that servicing of the systems must be done in compliance with the standard on control of hazardous energy (lockout/tags-plus). It also provides requirements for securing the vessel's radar and communication system, so it is incapable of energizing or emitting radiation, and maintaining manufacturer's safe distance from the system while being repaired, serviced, operated, or tested.   

Note: The requirements of this standard does not apply when a radar or communication system is incapable of emitting radiation at levels that could injure workers in the vicinity of the system, or if the radar or communication system is incapable of energizing in a manner than could injure workers working on or in the vicinity of the system. 

Additional information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics pages for lockout/tagout and radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing.

If yes, then you need to comply with the standard on lifeboats. It provides the requirements for securing the lifeboat, use of chocks, and the hoisting or lowering of lifeboats without employees being inside them (unless during a test, drill or in an emergency). 

If yes, then you need to comply with the standard on control of hazardous energy (lockout/tags-plus) as it covers the servicing of machinery, equipment, and systems when the energization or startup of machinery, equipment, or systems, or the release of hazardous energy, could endanger an employee. It applies to the servicing of any machinery, equipment, or system that employees use in the course of shipyard employment work and that is conducted:

  • In any landside facility that performs shipyard employment work; and
  • On any vessel or vessel section.

This standard applies to such servicing conducted on a vessel by any employee including, but not limited to, the ship's officers and crew unless such application is preempted by the regulations of another federal agency.

Note: When other standards in 29 CFR part 1915 - shipyard employment and applicable standards in 29 CFR part 1910 - general industry, require the use of a lock or tag, the employer shall use and supplement them with the procedural and training requirements specified in this standard.

Exceptions: This standard does not apply to:

  • Work on cord-and-plug-connected machinery, equipment, or system, provided the employer ensures that the machinery, equipment, or system is unplugged and the plug is under the exclusive control of the employee performing the servicing;
  • Minor servicing activities performed during normal production operations, including minor tool changes and adjustments, that are routine, repetitive, and integral to the use of the machinery, equipment, or system, provided the employer ensures that the work is performed using measures that provide effective protection from energization, startup, or the release of hazardous energy.

It provides the requirements for a lockout/tags-plus program (i.e., written procedures, training, audits), general requirements, written procedures, (i.e., shutdown, isolation, applying lockout/tags-plus systems, verification of deenergization, testing, removal, startup, employee protection, coordination between employees, multi-employer), lockout/tags-plus materials, hardware, training, incident investigations, audits, and recordkeeping. Appendix A for this standard provides typical minimal lockout/tags-plus procedures.

Additional information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics pages for lockout/tagout, machine guarding, and electrical safety

If yes, then you need to comply with the standard on motor vehicle safety equipment, operation and maintenance. This standard applies to any motor vehicle used to transport employees, materials, or property at worksites engaged in shipyard employment. It does not apply to motor vehicle operation on public streets and highways. These standards apply to employer-provided motor vehicles, and in some cases, employee-provided motor vehicles.  These standards provide the requirements for motor vehicle safety equipment (i.e., safety belts) and maintenance and operation (i.e., travel lanes, crosswalks, reflective vests, speed limits, bicycle use).

 

If yes, then you need to comply with some portions of the standard on motor vehicle safety equipment, operation and maintenance. It references that only the requirements related to motor vehicle safety equipment apply to powered industrial trucks and that additional requirements (i.e., maintenance, inspection, operation, training) that apply to powered industrial trucks that are used for shipyard employment are found in the general industry standard for powered industrial trucks. Note: The shipyard employment standard on powered industrial truck operator training also references paragraph (l) of the general industry standard for powered industrial trucks.

Powered industrial trucks includes fork trucks, tractors, platform lift trucks, motorized hand trucks, and other specialized industrial trucks powered by electric motors or internal combustion engines. It does not apply to compressed air or nonflammable compressed gas-operated industrial trucks, nor to farm vehicles, nor to vehicles intended primarily for earth moving or over-the-road hauling.

Additional information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics page for powered industrial trucks.

If yes, then you need to comply with the standard on servicing multi-piece and single-piece rim wheels.  Note: It references following the general industry standard requirements for servicing multi-piece and single piece rim wheels in shipyard employment.

This standard applies to the servicing of multi-piece and single piece rim wheels used on large vehicles such as trucks, tractors, trailers, buses and off-road machines. It does not apply to the servicing of rim wheels used on automobiles, or on pickup trucks and vans utilizing automobile tires or truck tires designated "LT".