Safety and Emergency Actions

1. The Hazards of Pump Work

Noise — the numbers worth knowing

Noise damage is based on sound level and time of exposure.

Ear protection

Ear protection is necessary and a suitable warning should be posted at the entrance to any space in which noise levels reach or exceed 90 dB(A). Many available ear muffs and plugs are not adequate — the performance of approved types should be checked against measured noise levels.

2. Safe Isolation — the Mandatory Sequence

1. Run the standby pump and stop the pump to be worked on.

2. Control room circuit breaker off.

3. Electrical isolation permit obtained; local panel breaker off.

4. Lock and tag.

5. Shut the suction valve.

6. Shut the discharge valve (high-pressure discharge especially).

7. Check via purge cock that there is no pressure inside the pump.

8. Remove the pump from auto start and from priority.

9. Display the 'men at work' warning board.

10. Drain and dispose of the liquid correctly.

11. Cool down before opening hot pumps.

12. Atmosphere test and permit where the pump room or space is a confined or flammable-atmosphere space.

3. Emergency Actions — Pump-Specific

Loss of suction / pump running dry

Immediate action:

1. Stop the pump. Running dry destroys mechanical seals, gland packing, wear rings and can seize a screw or gear pump.
2. Investigate the cause — level, strainer, suction valve, air ingress, priming system.
3. Do not repeatedly restart to "see if it picks up" — each attempt damages the seal faces further.
4. Restore prime properly before restarting.

Danger: Magnetic drive and canned motor pumps

Do not run a magnetic drive or canned motor pump dry under any circumstances — both cannot run dry and cannot resist extended cavitation.

Cavitation / severe noise and vibration

Immediate action:

1. Reduce flow by throttling the discharge, or reduce speed — this can stop rough running and avoid damage.
2. Identify whether the cause is temperature, level, suction restriction, or speed.
3. Correct the root cause before returning to full duty.
4. If damage is suspected, plan an inspection at the next opportunity.

Pump or motor overheating

Immediate action:

1. Stop the pump if the temperature is rising rapidly or there is any smell of burning.
2. Check lubrication, cooling, flow rate, and gland adjustment.
3. Check for low-flow operation — at low capacities the power supplied to the pump is no longer useful work and becomes heat.
4. Do not restart until the cause is identified.

Bearing failure / seizure

Immediate action:

1. Stop the pump; isolate.
2. Do not attempt to restart — a seized bearing can shear the shaft or destroy the casing.
3. On strip-down, examine the failure mode (lubrication? alignment? contamination?) before renewing.

Gland or seal failure with leakage

Immediate action:

1. Packed gland leaking heavily: adjust the gland to restore drop-by-drop leakage. If it will not adjust, the packing is exhausted (stage 3/4) and must be renewed at the next opportunity.
2. Mechanical seal leaking: reduce to minimum duty and plan replacement. Do not keep tightening anything — a mechanical seal is not adjustable.
3. If leakage is of a hazardous liquid or into an occupied space, stop the pump and isolate.
4. Where an auxiliary packing arrangement is fitted, install the backup packing only after a seal failure has occurred — it receives no lubrication while the seal is healthy.

Fire involving a pump or pump room

Immediate action:

1. Stop the pump and isolate its electrical supply.

2. Close the suction and discharge valves if safe to do so — this removes the fuel source.

3. Raise the alarm; notify the bridge and Chief Engineer.

4. Fight the fire with the appropriate medium for the fuel involved.

5. Do not enter a pump room where a flammable atmosphere may exist, or after a fire, without atmosphere testing and a permit.

6. After the event, do not restart until the cause is identified and the pump, motor and wiring have been inspected.

Loss of a pump during a critical operation

Plan for it before it happens:

4. Safety Rules That Are Absolute

1. Never defeat a pump trip, bridge a safety interlock, or isolate a protective device except under an approved test or repair procedure.

2. Never start a positive displacement pump against a closed discharge — the relief valve is the only thing between the pump and destruction.

3. Never throttle a pump's suction to control flow.

4. Never run a pump dry — least of all a magnetic drive or canned motor pump.

5. Never leave a pump in auto start while anyone is working on it.

6. Never open a pump casing until pressure is proven zero at the purge cock.

7. Never assume a closed valve is holding — prove it.

8. Never remove a guard and leave the pump available for start.

9. Never re-use a joint or O-ring where the maker specifies renewal.

10. Never sign off an overhaul without recording the measurements and the post-overhaul test.

5. Environmental and Regulatory Obligations

• Machinery-space bilge discharge only when all applicable MARPOL and shipboard conditions are met: en route as required, effluent not exceeding 15 ppm without dilution, compliant equipment operating, and any Special Area safeguards in service. Regulation 15.2 has no general 12-nautical-mile distance requirement.
• In Special Areas (Mediterranean, Baltic, Black Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf), discharge is permitted only when the separator or filtering system achieves the required low oil content.
• Record every overboard discharge in the Oil Record Book with the required detail — date, position, quantity, oil content, and the equipment in use.
• Never introduce detergents or emulsifiers into bilge water feeding a coalescing-type oily water separator.
• Cargo and ballast circuits must be isolated from each other and from bilge and fuel circuits, using blanks, lock-up valves or interlocks.
• Report any pollution incident immediately through the ship's reporting procedure.

Warning: The over-riding rule

The ship's SMS, permit-to-work system, maker's manual, and Chief Engineer's orders always override these notes.

6. Emergency Drill Questions

1. The main engine LO pump has just tripped. What do you do, and in what order?

Confirm the standby pump has taken over on auto; if it has not, start it immediately. Main engine damage follows within seconds of losing LO. Then investigate the trip cause before restoring the original pump, and record the event.

2. A mechanical seal on a hot oil pump starts leaking heavily. What are your actions?

Reduce to minimum duty, watch the leakage and the surrounding area, and plan replacement — a mechanical seal is not adjustable, so there is nothing to tighten. If the leakage is hazardous or into an occupied space, stop the pump and isolate.

3. You find the emergency fire pump has lost suction. How do you restore it?

Stop the pump. Check the priming system and its proving arrangement, the suction valve line-up, sea suction strainer and the pump casing for air. Restore prime properly, prove suction pressure, then restart. Do not repeatedly restart to "see if it picks up".

4. You are about to overhaul a pump and you find it still starts from the control room. What do you do?

Stop work. Remove the pump from auto start and from priority, obtain the electrical isolation permit, open the control room and local breakers, lock and tag, and prove the motor dead. Work does not begin until the pump cannot be started by anyone.

5. The pump room has a strong oil vapour smell. What are your actions?

Treat it as a flammable atmosphere. Do not enter without gas testing, ventilation and a permit; remove ignition sources; raise the alarm and notify the bridge and Chief Engineer. Find and stop the source of the vapour before anyone goes in.

6. A pump is running very noisily with fluctuating pressure. What is your immediate action and why?

Reduce flow by throttling the discharge, or reduce speed, to stop the rough running and limit damage. Then identify the cause — temperature, level, suction restriction or speed — and correct it before returning to full duty.