201313 Inadvertent release of senhouse slip caused fall and injury

Official report edited from Marine Safety Forum Safety Flash 12-46

A crewmember was engaged in spot chipping/descaling of the platform where a fast rescue craft (FRC) was stowed. At the aft end of the platform, there was very limited access space between the outboard motors of the FRC and the two removable safety chains strung across and secured by senhouse slips.

As the seaman was attempting to move between the FRC and the safety chains to sweep up the debris from the platform, he unknowingly leaned heavily on the upper chain and inadvertently released the senhouse slip. The safety chain suddenly dropped and the seaman lost his balance and fell over the lower safety chain and into an empty halfheight open top container located below. This incident could have had very serious consequences, but fortunately the injured person fell only a short distance and landed on a stack of empty pallets inside the container, sustaining only minor cuts and bruises.

Result of investigation
1 No task-specific risk assessment was conducted for the assigned work – especially to consider the difficulty in accessing, working and moving in the area;
2 The two safety chains were excessively slack;
3 The two senhouse slips did not have a ‘lip’ on the end of the arm to prevent unintentional release.

Editor’s note Senhouse slips meant for emergency applications should preferably be oriented vertically so that gravity assists in keeping the locking oval link in a safe position until a deliberate operator action is initiated to manually release the device. For added safety, the arm must incorporate a curved end or a raised ‘lip’ or a ‘bump’ at its end. For rigging horizontal safety chains, snap hooks are more convenient and efficient. See illustrations below.