LSA code is a code which provides international requirements for the life-saving appliances that are required by chapter III of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, including personal life-saving appliances (for example, lifebuoys, lifejackets, immersion suits, anti-exposure suits and thermal protective aids), visual aids (parachute flares, hand flares and buoyant smoke signals), survival craft (liferafts and lifeboats), rescue boats, launching and embarkation appliances and marine evacuation systems, line-throwing appliances; and general alarm and public address systems.
The International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code gives specific technical requirements for LSAs and is mandatory under Regulation 34, which states that all life-saving appliances and arrangements shall comply with the applicable requirements of the LSA Code.
Purpose of LSA code :
The purpose of this Code is to provide international standards for life-saving appliances required by chapter III of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974. 2 On and after 1 July 1998, the requirements of this Code will be mandatory under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended. Any future amendment to the Code will be adopted and brought into force in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article VIII of that Convention.
Content of LSA code is:
CHAPTER I – GENERAL
1.1 Definitions
1.2 General requirements for life-saving appliances
CHAPTER II – PERSONAL LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES
2.1 Lifebuoys
2.2 Lifejackets
2.3 Immersion suits
2.4 Anti-exposure suits
2.5 Thermal protective aids
CHAPTER III – VISUAL SIGNALS
3.1 Rocket parachute flares
3.2 Hand flares
3.3 Buoyant smoke signals
CHAPTER IV – SURVIVAL CRAFT
4.1 General requirements for liferafts
4.2 Inflatable liferafts
4.3 Rigid liferafts
4.4 General requirements for lifeboats
4.5 Partially enclosed lifeboats
4.6 Totally enclosed lifeboats
4.7 Free-fall lifeboats
4.8 Lifeboats with a self-contained air support system
4.9 Fire-protected lifeboats
CHAPTER V – RESCUE BOATS
5.1 Rescue boats
CHAPTER VI – LAUNCHING AND EMBARKATION APPLIANCES
6.1 Launching and embarkation appliances
6.2 Marine evacuation systems
CHAPTER VII – OTHER LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES
7.1 Line-throwing appliances
7.2 General alarm and public address system.
