Which safety items are you typically advised to wear on deck?

• A. Sun hat and sunscreen.
• B. Safety harness and ear protection.
• C. Personal Flotation Device (PFD) and hard hat.
• D. Full face respirator and gloves.

Answer: (C)

On deck, the most important safety items to wear are a Personal Flotation Device and a hard hat because they protect against the two most common and serious deck hazards: drowning if you fall overboard, and head injuries from objects or gear moving overhead.

A PFD keeps you afloat immediately if you end up in the water, which buys time and reduces the risk of drowning while you’re being rescued. A hard hat shields your head from impacts with lines, blocks, winches, or other gear that can shift or drop, especially in busy or weather-affected conditions.

Sun protection and gloves or ear protection are useful in specific situations, but they don’t address the fundamental, high-risk deck hazards as directly as a PFD and a hard hat. A full-face respirator is only needed in particular hazardous environments and isn’t a typical requirement on normal deck duties, and while a harness is essential for certain jobs, the combination of PFD and hard hat represents the baseline safety gear most crews would expect on deck.