201817 Pinch point discovered the hard way

 

 

A crewman needed to lift an escape hatch cover from the machinery spaces. He grabbed one of the yellow handles and raised the hatch, but he was unaware of a pinch point that existed between the handle and a nearby pipe. As he brought the hatch to the upright position his finger was caught in the pinch point causing a serious injury to his finger.

Lessons learned
- Risk assessments should be done on your vessel and pinch points should be targeted. If possible, these hazards should be eliminated.
- If it is physically impossible to eliminate certain pinch points, they must be clearly indicated and should form part of the vessel’s familiarisation checklist.