{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-crew-accommodation-regulations-1997/regulation-32",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-crew-accommodation-regulations-1997/regulation-32.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1997/1508",
  "legislation_title": "The Merchant Shipping (Crew Accommodation) Regulations 1997",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-crew-accommodation-regulations-1997",
  "path": "regulation/32",
  "kind": "regulation",
  "number": "32",
  "heading": "Hospitals",
  "text": "(1) Every ship with a crew of 15 or more persons which is intended be at sea on any occasion for a continuous period of more than three days shall be provided with a permanent hospital for the crew. The hospital shall not at any time be used for any purpose other than the treatment of sick persons.\n(2) In every other ship (except one in which all officers and ratings have single-berth sleeping rooms) a suitable room shall be appropriated for use, in case of need, as a temporary hospital. When that room is in use as a temporary hospital it shall not be used for any purpose other than the treatment of sick persons.\n(3) Every hospital, whether permanent or temporary, shall be so situated that it is as quiet and comfortable as possible and is readily accessible in all weathers—\n(a) from the sleeping room of the member of the crew who is, and is employed as, a duly qualified doctor or a qualified nurse; or\n(b) if no such doctor or nurse is carried, from the master’s accommodation.\n(4) The minimum width of the entrance to any permanent hospital shall; where practicable, be 760 millimetres; and every hospital, whether permanent or temporary, shall be so situated and arranged that a stretcher can be easily carried into it and placed alongside at least one single-tier bed.\n(5) Every permanent hospital shall be provided with at least one bed for every 50, or fraction of 50, members of the crew.\n(6) At least one bed in every permanent hospital shall be a single-tier bed and shall, wherever practicable, be so placed that it is accessible from both sides and from the foot.\n(7) If double-tier beds are provided in a hospital the upper tier shall be either hinged or removable.\n(8) The minimum inside dimensions of every bed in a permanent hospital shall be adequate to accommodate mattresses of a size 2 metres by 840 millimetres. In all other respects beds in permanent hospitals shall comply with the requirements set out in regulation 20.\n(9) Any room in a permanent hospital in which a bed is placed (in this regulation called “the ward”) shall, unless it is served by an air conditioning system or a trunked mechanical ventilation system, be fitted with an electric fan.\n(10) All side scuttles and windows in the ward, and all skylights therein which are exposed to the direct rays of the sun shall be provided with curtains or blinds.\n(11) Every permanent hospital, even if served by an air conditioning system or a trunked mechanical ventilation system, shall be provided in addition with a natural system of inlet and exhaust ventilation to the open air independent of any ventilators provided for other parts of the ship and complying with requirements of regulation 14(6).\n(12) Any radiator in the ward shall be fitted as far away from the head of any bed as is practicable.\n(13) Every permanent hospital shall be provided with a portable electrical lamp in addition to the lighting required by regulation 13. The lamp shall be capable of emitting 600 lumens.\n(14) The following items of equipment shall be provided for each bed in the hospital ward, and shall be within reach of that bed—\n(a) a locker approximately 305 millimetres square by 610 millimetres high, fitted with a flat top and a shelf;\n(b) a water bottle;\n(c) a tumbler; and\n(d) an electric bell-push communicating with the sleeping room of the doctor, nurse or other person in charge of the patient.\n(15) The following items of equipment shall be provided in every ward—\n(a) seats adequate in number having regard to the number of beds in the ward;\n(b) a clothes locker (additional to any lockers provided pursuant to paragraph (14)(a)) complying with the requirements of regulation 21(2)(a)(i); and\n(c) a box cover to conceal a bed-pan.\n(16) A washbasin of a capacity of at least 7 litres, with hot and cold water laid on to it, shall be fitted in every permanent hospital either in the ward or in a bathroom in washing accommodation in the hospital.\n(17) In ships of 5,000 tons or over a bath at least 1.35 metres in internal length shall be fitted in washing accommodation in the hospital.\n(18) Every washbasin or bath in a permanent hospital shall comply with the requirements of regulation 26(11) and, where practicable, except in ships provided with a collecting tank or sewage plant, the discharge system shall be separate from any other discharge system in the ship. A scupper at least 50 millimetres in diameter shall be fitted in the lowest part of any room in a hospital in which a bath is fitted and in any room in which a basin is fitted unless that room is the ward.\n(19) A water closet pedestal and the other items specified in regulation 26(22) shall be fitted in every permanent hospital either in a separate closet or in washing accommodation in the hospital.\n(20) Access to the water closet or, if the water closet pedestal is fitted in washing accommodation, access to that washing accommodation shall be obtained either directly from the ward or from a lobby within the hospital. The door to that water closet or washing accommodation shall open outwards and any door catch fitted to it shall be capable of being opened from the outside.\n(21) The water closet or other room in which the water closet pedestal is fitted shall, unless it is served by a trunked mechanical exhaust ventilation system which effectively removes the odours from it, be provided with a gastight self-closing door.\n(22) All washbasins, baths, showers and water closets fitted in a hospital shall comply with the requirements of regulation 26(11), (14), (18), (22) and (23).\n(23) In passenger ships, one hospital may be provided to serve both crew and passengers. In such a case separate male and, except where there are no female members of the crew, female wards and sanitary accommodation shall be provided for the exclusive use of the crew.\n(24) The floor covering in every permanent hospital shall, so far as is practicable, be free from joints.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/1508/regulation/32",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T12:07:04.043393+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}