Chapter:	313X	Title:	SHIPPING AND PORT CONTROL (WORKS) REGULATION	Gazette Number:	L.N. 290 of 2006
Section:	7	Heading:	Safe means of access to holds	Version Date:	02/01/2007

(1) If a person employed has to carry out works in a hold of a vessel the depth of which, when measured from the level of the deck to the bottom of the hold, exceeds 1.5 m, there shall be provided safe means of access from the deck to the hold for use by that person.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the means of access shall be afforded by ladders or steps that are separate from any hatchway and sloping from deck to deck unless the Director otherwise permits.
(3) The means of access may be afforded¡X

(a) by ladder cleats or cups on the coamings;
(b) by ladder cleats or cups on a bulkhead or in a trunk hatchway, if it can be shown that it is not reasonably practicable to provide any ladder on the bulkhead or in the trunk hatchway; or
(c) by shaft tunnels.

(a) unless¡X
(i) at each rung of the ladder there is a foothold of a depth, including any space behind the ladder, of not less than 115 mm and a width of not less than 250 mm and there is a sufficient number of firm handholds along each side of the ladder;
(ii) the cargo, if any, is stowed sufficiently far from the ladder, having regard to the requirements under subparagraph (i);
(iii) there is room to pass between a winch (or any other obstruction) and the coamings at the place where the ladder leaves the deck; and
(iv) (where ladders are afforded from the top deck to the lower decks) the ladders between the lower decks are in the same line as the ladder from the top deck, if that is reasonably practicable having regard to the position of the lower hatch or hatches; or
(b) if the ladder is recessed under the deck more than is reasonably necessary to keep the ladder clear of the hatchway.

(a) the cleats or cups provide a foothold of a depth, including any space behind the cleats or cups, of not less than 115 mm and a width of not less than 250 mm and there is a sufficient number of firm handholds along each side of the means of access;
(b) the cleats or cups are so constructed as to prevent a person¡¦s foot slipping off the side; and
(c) the cleats or cups are placed vertically one above the other and, if they give access to ladders, in the same line as the ladders to which they give access.

(a) every step provides a foothold of a depth, including any space behind the step, of not less than 115 mm and a width of not less than 250 mm and there is a sufficient number of firm handholds along each side of the means of access;
(b) the cargo, if any, is stowed sufficiently far from the steps, having regard to the requirements under paragraph (a);
(c) there is room to pass between a winch (or any other obstruction) and the coamings at the place where the steps leave the deck.