Videotel, the leading international provider of e-Learning maritime training programs and a company of KVH Industries, Inc., has backed the Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on crew familiarization for enclosed space entry recently launched by the maritime authorities of Tokyo and Paris.
Nigel Cleave, CEO of Videotel, says the dangers of seafarers entering enclosed spaces without the necessary training and equipment are of the utmost concern. “Seafarers are dying unnecessarily and we will continue to drive home the need for the industry and government to work together to ensure such incidents are a thing of the past. One death from such a situation is one death too many,” says Mr. Cleave.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), enclosed spaces are characterized by having limited openings for entry and exit, inadequate ventilation, or a design not intended for continuous worker occupancy. Examples include cargo spaces, double bottoms, fuel tanks, ballast tanks, cargo pump-rooms, compressor rooms, chain lockers, and any other confined spaces that may be oxygen deficient or have unsafe atmospheres.
Videotel produces “Entry into Enclosed Spaces,” an entire suite of training programmes in interactive CD-ROM and Videotel on Demand (VOD) format with supporting booklets. Intended for both onboard crew and shore-based personnel, the seven-edition series explains all relevant regulations and guidelines, raises awareness of the hazards of enclosed spaces entry, explains enclosed space entry procedures and the equipment required for safe entry into enclosed spaces, and provides details about emergency procedures, rescue techniques, and the use of a self-contained breathing apparatus.
“Given the unacceptable number of fatalities recorded in recent years, the ‘Entry into Enclosed Spaces’ series was considered so vitally important that we produced not one, but seven programmes,” says Videotel’s Nigel Cleave. “The series all rate at the very top of our ‘must see’ training programmes.”