From the beginning of this year, SOLAS Regulation III/19 required mandatory enclosed space entry drills as well as rescue drills, to be conducted every two months. Given the continued occurrence of tragic accidents, members need to pay special attention to this risk. The risk Over the years the Association has had to deal with a number of accidents resulting in fatalities which followed the entry in to an enclosed space starved of oxygen or containing harmful gasses, typically due to a failure to follow safety procedures, and this has affected both crew as well as people coming on board such as stevedores. Incidents have included oxygen starved holds resulting from the carriage of organic cargoes including wheat, timber and logs, but also of mineral cargoes such as DRI or coal. At other times, accidents happened while tanks and / or cargo holds were being inspected or maintenance was carried out. Tragically, these accidents have at times been compounded, because once it became clear that someone was in trouble, someone else rushed to help them - but without themselves first taking proper precautions and using appropriate safety equipment. On occasion a number of fatalities resulted from such an incident. The fatality risk At sea-level, humans require air that contains a certain minimum quantity of oxygen, and that is a requirement for at least 19.5% oxygen. Below that, an environment will be unsafe for human life, basis oxygen % alone. It must be stressed, however, that even at 19.5% oxygen the air may be unsafe, given that the basic oxygen level of air is 20.9% at sea level. Where, for instance, the 1.4% difference is taken up by a gas such as carbon monoxide then a person may fall unconscious within a few breaths, and death may follow within 3 minutes. Hannaford Forensic Services (Asia) Limited, have prepared a note on oxygen level issues that is republished alongside this bulletin. Regulatory development Following a deterioration in accidents over time, the IMO d