Maritime passenger transport operators are required to have plans and procedures in place to prepare for and deal with disruptions and emergencies that might occur in the course of providing transport services, both on vessels and on shore facilities. Disruptions can be defined as events which interrupt the normal course of services - for example, an unplanned disruption caused by a vessel breakdown, or a planned disruption arising from annual dry-docking and survey. Emergencies are more serious as they require immediate action. Examples could include a fire, or uncontrolled ingress of water, or a serious fault on board a vessel, or a security threat.
Operators of maritime passenger transport buildings must comply with a range of legislation to ensure that buildings are safe for staff and customers; these include the Fire Services Acts (1981 and 2003), the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act (2005), and Building Control legislation. Vessel operators will have to comply with the Merchant Shipping Acts and EU law. Typically, most maritime law is implemented by statutory instruments (SIs) that prescribe regulations for construction, fire fighting, life saving appliances, manning of vessels, health and safety and compliance with the International Safety Management (ISM) Code. The International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code applies both to internationally trading ships and the larger port facilities in the State.
In order to deal with emergencies and disruptions, it is necessary first to prepare and develop appropriate emergency plans and disruption plans. These plans would normally be implemented under the safety management system for vessels. Similar plans would be implemented for port terminals and shore facilities. Existing plans should be reviewed periodically and should be assessed to ensure that the needs of passengers with reduced mobility are identified and catered for.
Preparation and planning is central to maintaining quality customer service during disruptions and emergencies. Passengers become frustrated when they don't know what is going on, rather than by the actual disruption itself. If plans and procedures are implemented correctly, the number of complaints from passengers will be reduced.
Dealing with disruptions that are likely to arise on a more frequent basis requires simple and effective procedures to enable staff to communicate with passengers. Maritime passenger transport operators need to ensure that this is done in a way that all passengers can understand, including those with reduced mobility.
There are two essential components that maritime passenger transport operators should keep in mind when preparing the procedures for emergencies and disruptions:
1. Provide information on the disruption at the earliest opportunity
Providing information at the earliest opportunity and advance warning of planned disruptions allows passengers to make alternative plans. For unplanned disruptions, providing people with the information before they purchase tickets is preferable. Providing information on disruptions before people leave home is best and this can be done in a number of ways (radio, phone, website, SMS text messaging and email).
Disruptions during the journey(when passengers are on board the vessel) should also be communicated to passengers, as this will allow them to make alternative arrangements, perhaps by informing people waiting for them at the end of the journey. The way in which this information is given should reflect the information needs of different people.
2. Provide relevant information
Providing relevant information is important. If a vessel has broken down, passenger should be informed whether a replacement vessel can be provided. Plans and procedures for dealing with disruption should be communicated to staff and included in staff training programmes.
Of their nature, emergencies are not likely to occur frequently, but planning how to cope with emergencies is a significant exercise that involves identifying possible emergencies that might occur and designing plans and procedures to deal with them. Emergencies will often require the evacuation or part evacuation of a building or vessel and, as such, will need to consider how all passengers, including those with reduced mobility, can evacuate to an appropriate place of safety. Obviously, the more accessible a building or a vessel is the more easily it can be evacuated during an emergency.
Operators need to consider the particular needs of passengers with reduced mobility in emergency situations. For example, people who are Deaf or hard of hearing will not hear a traditional fire alarm bell. Some people with mobility difficulties who are usually able to move independently may not be able to do so safely in an evacuation situation where large numbers of other people are moving quickly towards the fire exits. Many lifts are not designed for use in an emergency, so alternatives may be required to move wheelchair users and other people with mobility impairments up and down stairs during an evacuation. The options available include manual and powered evacuation chairs to move a wheelchair user up or down stairs, depending on the width and layout of the staircase. There may be some situations where the least risky option is to use standard lifts during evacuations, though this should only be done following a thorough risk assessment by a competent person.
Vessels with a high degree of accessibility will generally have fewer problems evacuating passengers with reduced mobility, but training and regular safety exercises are the most effective preparation for dealing with an emergency and carrying out evacuation procedures. It is the responsibility of all vessel operators to put in place effective plans and procedures for dealing with emergency situations and the safe evacuation of all passengers. In particular, operators should consider preparing a Personal Emergency Egress Plan (PEEP) to ensure that the evacuation needs of particular passengers or staff members are planned and agreed before any emergency occurs. It may be helpful to prepare a standard PEEP for passengers with certain types of disabilities - for example, for wheelchair users or for those who are blind or have impaired vision. However, it is important that staff understand that every passengers has different abilities and needs, so flexibility will be required in implementing a PEEP.
Operators should consider asking customers at the time of booking if they would be likely to need assistance during an evacuation.
Plans and procedures for emergencies and disruptions should be subject to assessment and auditing as well as to practical testing of their procedures. It is important that maritime passenger transport operators ensure that they cater for the requirements of all their passengers. There is also a strong argument for involving passengers with reduced mobility in the auditing and testing of the plans and procedures. Operators should consider employing professional accessibility experts to conduct audits, as they will be able to assess against a wide range of accessibility parameters and different types of impairments which non-expert auditors, even people with disabilities, may not be able to do.