201851 Unmarked crushing hazard claims a victim

Unmarked crushing hazard claims a victim
As edited from official report of the Bureau d’Enquêtes sur les Événements de Mer (BEAMer, France), 26 July 2017

A small dredger was in port and a crew member was discharging a load of sand on the foredeck, using the vessel’s deck crane and grab. Meanwhile, another crew member was assembling some containers of old oil on the port foredeck in preparation for disembarking the oil ashore.

The sand offloading moved to the middle of the hold, and the crane’s counterweight swung over the starboard railing. The crane operator then swung the counterweight to port to access the sand on the starboard side of the hold. In this position, he could not see the port side of the deck.

 

 

The crew member who was assembling the containers was in a vulnerable position on the port side, where the crane operator could not see him. He was trapped by the counterweight against the ship’s bulwark. He collapsed and was quickly attended to but was later declared deceased.

The official investigation found, among others that:

• The victim was relatively inexperienced, and had probably not been made aware of the dangers of the foredeck while the crane was in operation.
• The victim was not wearing hi-vis clothing nor a hard hat.
• There were no barriers nor indications around the swing radius of the counterweight to warn persons of the danger.

 

 

• Editor’s note: This really was an accident waiting to happen. An inexperienced crew member was put into a dangerous environment where hazards were unmarked and unprotected.