Oberon Class Submarine Occupational Hygiene Project Final Report

2. Gibson (1995) - “Mercuric Oxide Spill – FWD 609 Type Indicator Buoy”.Regarding clean up of residues from a ruptured MR 44 mercury dry battery. Thebattery is made up of mercury, mercuric oxide, manganese oxide, and potassiumhydroxide. An MSDS and a clean up procedure were attached.3. Dalton (1996), “Biological Contamination of HMAS ONSLOW Fresh WaterSupplies - AMP 8”.During dry dock maintenance of HMAS ONSLOW the potable water tanks werecleaned out by contractors following the discovery of biological contamination.Calcium hypochlorite was used for the sterilisation. A number of tanks had lead levelswhich conformed at time of test but may fall outside proposed National Health&Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines.4. Royal Australian Navy, (1997), “Royal Australian Navy Oberon ClassSubmarine Standard Orders - Volume 2: Operating Procedures”.‘Standard Orders are issued to standardize drills, terminology and safety procedures inAustralian Submarines.’ The Orders manual was examined for already recognizedhazards and instructions on how to minimise or reduce the risk. The orders aredivided into chapters with each focusing on particular operations of the submarine. Inthe following text the numbers in brackets refer to the Standard Order number.Chapter 2 - Safety General: Chapter 2 is 138 pages long and has almost 60 topicheadings covering reporting of defects to explosives/pyrotechnic storage to trimmingdown in harbour. The Orders state that “a high consciousness of the need of personnelsafety is essential”(2006). The orders give protocols, including the use of specificsafety equipment, and command structure to be followed for certain events. Lock outprocedures are used, for example, when working near radar or radio antenna due torisk of irradiation. Depending on length of absence returning sailors must undergoretraining. At the time, there was a policy of allowing smoking onboard submarinesexcept under specific conditions, e.g., during fuelling operations or when ‘NoSmoking’, is piped. A list of the hazards/hazardous locations/tasks would constitutethe basis of the occupational hazards inventory.Comment. The consequences of exposure to some of these identified hazards mayhave not only short but long term consequences such as hearing loss from noise,potential brain damage/diminished cognitive skills from exposure to chemicalcontaminants in sludge tanks.Chapter 3 – Diving/Surfacing/Snorting: The protocols for these operations arestated, and a number of hazards are also identified. These hazards include less thanatmospheric pressure (27 inches or less)(3042) conditions, reduced oxygen contentwhich may not be recognized until too late as crew become unconscious (3043), and,the possibility of hydrogen explosion if the Main Generators stopped on breaking thecharge and the battery reached gassing point (3044).Chapter 4 – Emergency operating Procedures: This chapter states the protocol forEmergency Stations for specified events which include Fire and its possiblesources/origins. Fire not only causes physical damage but also releases atmosphericcontaminants which may threaten life and habitation. A number of chemicalemergencies are also identified requiring special protective equipment and procedures22