Posted By LIM BOON KHOON A registered safety officer works in a shipyard. He is asked by his employer to perform the functions of a safety assessor for confined space work. (Note: His employer has not appointed him as a competent person although required by the shipbuilding and shiprepairing regulations) An explosion happened on the vessel killing 7 people. He was prosecuted in court for negligence under the regulations. Likewise his employer or occupier was also prosecuted. Under such a circumstance, can his license as a registered safety officer be affected by the prosecution, although he was prosecuted in his capacity as a safety assessor. Is his employer or occupier totally liable for failing to comply with the shipbuilding and shiprepairing regulations, in that the employer or occupier has not appointed him as a competent person ? Given the above circumstances, how can the registered safety officer defend himself in the court of law ? I would like to hear the views, comments and advice of fellow members and other interested parties. Best Regards Lim Boon Khoon

Posted By Frank Hallett Allan St H is correct in that it wouldn't happen in the UK now. I thought that intitially I was reading a variation on the HMS Glasgow fire in the 1970's and was confused about the "registered safety officer". There are no direct parallels in the UK but it is possible that Singapore law is sufficiently close to UK to consider the cae of Nurse Woodruffe which was recently cited in one of the H&S publications. It occurred in Essex, that's why I know about it. Frank Hallett

Posted By Ian Waldram IOSH International Dept. are aware of this Singapore case, and have asked an experienced member who lives and works there to report in detail when he is in UK in April. The key issue of course is competence, both initial and continuing, how that is maintained and, in the case of the Singapore Government Register assessed. The Ministry of Manpower do require Registered Safety officers to undertake CPD, but personally I'm not aware how their requirements match the new IOSH scheme which begins later this year, or other global good practice.