Safety First

When heavy machinery is in use, safety is always a priority.

And when you add in the fact that we are on a ship, rolling with the swells of the Southern Ocean, subjected to all sorts of weather types, safety truly becomes top priority.

Although safety is taken seriously throughout the entire ship, the back deck is by far the most safety conscious area.

The back deck is the lowest deck, and in rough seas often has waves crashing over the sides.  This is where all cargo is loaded on and off the ship and where all of our team's scientific instruments are deployed into the water and retrieved from.

Waves crashing over the starboard side of the back deck.

Two marine technicians getting ready to deploy the sediment grab.

To do these tasks, the back deck is equipped with five different winches, two A-frames that can extend out over the water, hydraulic lines, and two cranes, the larger of which can lift 13.5 tons!

Because of all this heavy machinery, when anyone, including the members of our team, go out on the back deck they are required to wear specific clothing items.  We must wear long pants, steel toed boots, a hard hat, and a coat with a built in flotation device.  All of these items help to keep whoever is out on the back deck prepared and safe while we carry out our Antarctic science.

Team members model their back deck safety gear.

Florida Tech hard hats.