Tolmačenje

SHIP BREAKING / SCRAPPING

Until the late twentieth century, ship breaking took place in port cities in the "First World," including the United States. Today, however, most ship breaking yards are in developing nations, principally Bangladesh, China, and India, due to lower labor costs and less stringent environmental regulations dealing with the disposal of lead paint and other toxic substances. However, there are a few "breakers" in the United States that still operate.

Ship breaking is a type of recycling. Most ships have a life-span of a few decades before there is too much wear to make refit and repair practical. Ship breaking allows for materials from the ship, especially steel, to be given a new life in a new vessel.

In recent years however, ship breaking has become an issue of major environmental concern. Many ship breaking yards in developing nations have lax or no environmental controls, enabling large quantities of highly toxic materials to escape into the environment and causing serious health problems among shipbreakers and the local population. Environmental campaign groups such as Greenpeace have made the issue a high priority for their campaigns.

Currently, many ships are also sunk to make artificial reefs after being cleaned up. A ship that has been scrapped is sometimes colloquially said to be "made into razor blades."

1.1 The problem

By any standards, the demolition of ships is a dirty and dangerous occupation. However, the feasibility of ship-breaking is largely determined by the price of scrap metal. The recent introduction of environmental and safety laws in China - once the major breaking nation - has made this industry unprofitable in that country. The race is to the bottom to find countries where occupational health and safety standards are not enforced.

Despite earlier attempts in Resolutions of the ILO Metal Trades Committee to draw attention to the phenomena of ship-breaking, ship scrapping, demolition, de-commissioning, or recycling as it is also known, little has been done up until recently to improve the working conditions of those involved. However, the recently concluded 279th Session of the ILO's Governing Body (November 2000) endorsed a conclusion of the Tripartite Meeting on the Social and Labour impact of Globalization in the Manufacture of Transport Equipment (8-12 May 2000) stating that:

• as a first step, the ILO should draw up a compendium of best practice adapted to local conditions leading to the preparation of a comprehensive code of practice on occupational safety and health in ship-breaking, and that

• governments should be encouraged to require ships to have an inventory of hazardous materials on board that is updated throughout the life of the vessel.

1.2. Clearly identifiable hazards

There can be no doubt that scrapping a ship that has been run up onto a beachhead qualifies as unsafe and dangerous work. There is a broad spectrum of problems facing workers involved with ship-breaking (most of whom are migrants) ranging from poor conditions of employment and work,⁽⁴⁾ to a total absence of any collective bargaining or industrial relations procedures. As mentioned above, ILO's previous concerns (consistent with earlier resolutions of the Metal Trades Committee) have focused more on the OSH issues surrounding the demolition of ships and the prevention of accidents and injuries. And even when environmental disasters occur affecting a wider population, the workers scrapping the ships are first in the line of exposure. The work is carried out in 40°C heat, on beaches without any personal protective devices or equipment

. Hazardous or Harmful Factors in Ship Scrapping
• Asbestos 
• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) 
• Lead 
• Chromates 
• Mercury 
• Fumes of welding & cuffing 
• Radiation 
• Noise 
• Vibration 
• Air pollution 
• Low-level radium sources 
• Organic liquids ( Benzene etc.) 
• Battery, Compressed gas cylinders,firefighting liquids, etc. 
• Chemical materials 
• Work using plasma and gas torches 
• Explosive(s) 
• Work using cranes and lifting equipment 
• Saws, Grinders and Abrasive cutting wheels 
• Accident factors: falling, upsetting, electric shock, etc

 

Recommendations

• R 114 ( Radiation Prevention Recommendation ) 
• R 118 (Guarding of Machinery Recommendation 
• R 128 (Maximum Weight Recommendation) 
• R 144 (Benzene Recommendation ) 
• R 147 (Occupational Cancer Recommendation 
• R 156 (Working Environment Recommendation 
• R 164 (Occupational Safety and Health Recommendation 
• R 171 (Occupational Health Services Recommendation 
• R 172 (Asbestos Recommendation ) 
• R 177(Safety in the Use of Chemicals at Work Recommendation 
• R 181 (Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Recommendation) 
 

1.4. Where are ships scrapped?

Most of the work is carried out in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where the high tides are especially conducive to heaving the ships up onto the beach. Over 300 ships a year are now being processed at Alang which has demolished over 2,000 ships since its inception in the early 1980s. On the other hand, given the fact that this work is carried out in these low income countries, one would not want to deprive these workers (many of whom are migrants), of what little income they can earn (even if it appears meagre by Western standards). To the 25,000 or so who work at Chittagong in Bangladesh and the 40,000 reportedly in Alang in India must be added all those indirectly affected or benefiting from the industry. Quite possibly this would involve multiplying these figures by a factor of five or ten. Nevertheless, minimum levels of protection must be afforded these workers to protect them from hazards.

Obviously, the only safe way to demolish a ship would be in a shipyard. However, the last ship to be scrapped in the UK was over a quarter of a century ago. Usable facilities still exist in Spain and Turkey and Australia has undertaken a feasibility study to establish a facility. The EU is also doing a study. China which until 1993 undertook half of the scrapping in the world, dropped out of the market when stricter environmental laws were introduced. Although a ship can be scrapped in two weeks in a yard as opposed to over six months on a beach, it is unlikely that industrialized countries will move back into the business as the breaking up of ships also presupposes a market for scrap steel near the ship yard.

NEXT STEP

At present, sufficient research has been undertaken by enough agencies (including the ILO) to identify the problems and hazards associated with ship-breaking. There are only a handful of countries which order ships, there are fewer which build them and even less that decommission them. Each group of countries could be specifically targeted, for example, to require those ordering ships to write recyclable material into their specifications and to document any hazardous material used. Already existing ILO standards (listed above) could be scanned to extract OSH passages which are also applicable and relevant to ship-breaking activities. In this way, a compendium could be prepared as requested, and could later lead to the publication of a practical guide  While the ultimate goal would be a Code of Practice on Safety and Health in Ship Scrapping, a number of interim steps such as training videos, hand-outs (translated into the local languages), seminars and workshops could be organized, with the goal of improving worker safety.