Regulation 3.1 — Accommodation and recreational facilities

External bulkheads of sleeping rooms and mess rooms should be adequately insulated. All machinery casings and all boundary bulkheads of galleys and other spaces in which heat is produced should be adequately insulated where there is a possibility of resulting heat effects in adjoining accommodation or passageways. Measures should also be taken to provide protection from heat effects of steam or hot-water service pipes or both.

Sleeping rooms, mess rooms, recreation rooms and alleyways in the accommodation space should be adequately insulated to prevent condensation or overheating.

The bulkhead surfaces and deckheads should be of material with a surface easily kept clean. No form of construction likely to harbour vermin should be used.

The bulkhead surfaces and deckheads in sleeping rooms and mess rooms should be capable of being easily kept clean and light in colour with a durable, nontoxic finish.

The decks in all seafarer accommodation should be of approved material and construction and should provide a non-slip surface impervious to damp and easily kept clean.

Where the floorings are made of composite materials, the joints with the sides should be profiled to avoid crevices.

The system of ventilation for sleeping rooms and mess rooms should be controlled so as to maintain the air in a satisfactory condition and to ensure a sufficiency of air movement in all conditions of weather and climate.

Air-conditioning systems, whether of a centralized or individual unit type, should be designed to:

Power for the operation of the air conditioning and other aids to ventilation required by the preceding paragraphs of this Guideline should be available at all times when seafarers are living or working on board and conditions so require. However, this power need not be provided from an emergency source.

The system of heating the seafarer accommodation should be in operation at all times when seafarers are living or working on board and conditions require its use.

In all ships in which a heating system is required, the heating should be by means of hot water, warm air, electricity, steam or equivalent. However, within the accommodation area, steam should not be used as a medium for heat transmission. The heating system should be capable of maintaining the temperature in seafarer accommodation at a satisfactory level under normal conditions of weather and climate likely to be met within the trade in which the ship is engaged. The competent authority should prescribe the standard to be provided.

Radiators and other heating apparatus should be placed and, where necessary, shielded so as to avoid risk of fire or danger or discomfort to the occupants.

In all ships, electric light should be provided in the seafarer accommodation. If there are not two independent sources of electricity for lighting, additional lighting should be provided by properly constructed lamps or lighting apparatus for emergency use.

In sleeping rooms an electric reading lamp should be installed at the head of each berth.

Suitable standards of natural and artificial lighting should be fixed by the competent authority.

There should be adequate berth arrangements on board, making it as comfortable as possible for the seafarer and any partner who may accompany the seafarer.

Where the size of the ship, the activity in which it is to be engaged and its layout make it reasonable and practicable, sleeping rooms should be planned and equipped with a private bathroom, including a toilet, so as to provide reasonable comfort for the occupants and to facilitate tidiness.

As far as practicable, sleeping rooms of seafarers should be so arranged that watches are separated and that no seafarers working during the day share a room with watchkeepers.

In the case of seafarers performing the duty of petty officers there should be no more than two persons per sleeping room.

Consideration should be given to extending the facility referred to in Standard A3.1, paragraph 9(m), to the second engineer officer when practicable.

Space occupied by berths and lockers, chests of drawers and seats should be included in the measurement of the floor area. Small or irregularly shaped spaces which do not add effectively to the space available for free movement and cannot be used for installing furniture should be excluded.

Berths should not be arranged in tiers of more than two; in the case of berths placed along the ship's side, there should be only a single tier where a sidelight is situated above a berth.

The lower berth in a double tier should be not less than 30 centimetres above the floor; the upper berth should be placed approximately midway between the bottom of the lower berth and the lower side of the deckhead beams.

The framework and the lee-board, if any, of a berth should be of approved material, hard, smooth, and not likely to corrode or to harbour vermin.

If tubular frames are used for the construction of berths, they should be completely sealed and without perforations which would give access to vermin.

Each berth should be fitted with a comfortable mattress with cushioning bottom or a combined cushioning mattress, including a spring bottom or a spring mattress. The mattress and cushioning material used should be made of approved material. Stuffing of material likely to harbour vermin should not be used.

When one berth is placed over another, a dust-proof bottom should be fitted beneath the bottom mattress or spring bottom of the upper berth.

The furniture should be of smooth, hard material not liable to warp or corrode.

Sleeping rooms should be fitted with curtains or equivalent for the sidelights.

Sleeping rooms should be fitted with a mirror, small cabinets for toilet requisites, a book rack and a sufficient number of coat hooks.

Mess room facilities may be either common or separate. The decision in this respect should be taken after consultation with seafarers' and shipowners' representatives and subject to the approval of the competent authority. Account should be taken of factors such as the size of the ship and the distinctive cultural, religious and social needs of the seafarers.

Where separate mess room facilities are to be provided to seafarers, then separate mess rooms should be provided for:

On ships other than passenger ships, the floor area of mess rooms for seafarers should be not less than 1.5 square metres per person of the planned seating capacity.

In all ships, mess rooms should be equipped with tables and appropriate seats, fixed or movable, sufficient to accommodate the greatest number of seafarers likely to use them at any one time.

There should be available at all times when seafarers are on board:

Where available pantries are not accessible to mess rooms, adequate lockers for mess utensils and proper facilities for washing utensils should be provided.

The tops of tables and seats should be of damp-resistant material.

Washbasins and tub baths should be of adequate size and constructed of approved material with a smooth surface not liable to crack, flake or corrode.

All toilets should be of an approved pattern and provided with an ample flush of water or with some other suitable flushing means, such as air, which are available at all times and independently controllable.

Sanitary accommodation intended for the use of more than one person should comply with the following:

The laundry facilities provided for seafarers' use should include:

The hospital accommodation should be designed so as to facilitate consultation and the giving of medical first aid and to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

The arrangement of the entrance, berths, lighting, ventilation, heating and water supply should be designed to ensure the comfort and facilitate the treatment of the occupants.

The number of hospital berths required should be prescribed by the competent authority.

Sanitary accommodation should be provided for the exclusive use of the occupants of the hospital accommodation, either as part of the accommodation or in close proximity thereto. Such sanitary accommodation should comprise a minimum of one toilet, one washbasin and one tub or shower.

Where separate facilities for engine department personnel to change their clothes are provided, they should be:

Each Member should consider applying the following principles:

Recreational facilities and services should be reviewed frequently to ensure that they are appropriate in the light of changes in the needs of seafarers resulting from technical, operational and other developments in the shipping industry.

Furnishings for recreational facilities should as a minimum include a bookcase and facilities for reading, writing and, where practicable, games.

In connection with the planning of recreation facilities, the competent authority should give consideration to the provision of a canteen.

Consideration should also be given to including the following facilities at no cost to the seafarer, where practicable:

Every effort should be given to ensuring that the forwarding of seafarers' mail is as reliable and expeditious as possible. Efforts should also be considered for avoiding seafarers being required to pay additional postage when mail has to be readdressed owing to circumstances beyond their control.

Measures should be considered to ensure, subject to any applicable national or international laws or regulations, that whenever possible and reasonable seafarers are expeditiously granted permission to have their partners, relatives and friends as visitors on board their ship when in port. Such measures should meet any concerns for security clearances.

Consideration should be given to the possibility of allowing seafarers to be accompanied by their partners on occasional voyages where this is practicable and reasonable. Such partners should carry adequate insurance cover against accident and illness; the shipowners should give every assistance to the seafarer to effect such insurance.

Accommodation and recreational and catering facilities should be located as far as practicable from the engines, steering gear rooms, deck winches, ventilation, heating and air-conditioning equipment and other noisy machinery and apparatus.

Acoustic insulation or other appropriate sound-absorbing materials should be used in the construction and finishing of bulkheads, deckheads and decks within the sound-producing spaces as well as self-closing noise-isolating doors for machinery spaces.

Engine rooms and other machinery spaces should be provided, wherever practicable, with soundproof centralized control rooms for engine-room personnel. Working spaces, such as the machine shop, should be insulated, as far as practicable, from the general engine-room noise and measures should be taken to reduce noise in the operation of machinery.

The limits for noise levels for working and living spaces should be in conformity with the ILO international guidelines on exposure levels, including those in the ILO code of practice entitled Ambient factors in the workplace, 2001, and, where applicable, the specific protection recommended by the International Maritime Organization, and with any subsequent amending and supplementary instruments for acceptable noise levels on board ships. A copy of the applicable instruments in English or the working language of the ship should be carried on board and should be accessible to seafarers.

No accommodation or recreational or catering facilities should be exposed to excessive vibration.