Seaways Free Article: Mud box nightmares

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Some nights I find myself in a self-inflicted enclosed space nightmare that gives me flashbacks to my time serving as a navigating cadet on a British flag cargo ship.

The chief mate assigned us the task of cleaning out the mud box beneath the chain lockers. I was the senior cadet, so I received the orders directly from the mate when I went to the bridge at 07:00 that morning. I don’t remember being given any special instructions, guidance or training about the risks of entering enclosed spaces. Admittedly this was 1970 and perhaps we relied on commonsense rather than risk assessments and permits to work.

I had never cleaned a mud box before, but I knew that it was a space beneath the chain lockers and that the floor of each chain locker was perforated to allow water and debris to fall into the space below. Each mud box was fitted with a bilge line so that the mud box space could be pumped out when water accumulated after the anchor chains returned wet after being retrieved and descending the spurling pipes. Access was through a manhole cover located in the lower forecastle deck. From memory, the space itself was about 50 cm in height – so you had to enter through the manhole and wriggle into the space. The mud box was divided into sections by the steel supporting intercostals that held the perforated floor above. This was a dark space, so a cargo cluster light had to be taken inside to illuminate the interior.

Straight away as I put my head and shoulders through the manhole, I encountered mud on the floor. That meant the first area to be scraped was the area just inside the manhole access. Then, step by step more of my body went inside. As I filled my bucket I passed it back to the junior cadet outside. Further and further I crawled inside, getting further and further away from the manhole.

This is the part where my nightmare plays various scenarios that cause me to shiver and tremble. Above me rested several hundred tons of anchor cable, and to get out of the mud box required tremendous dexterity to slither backwards across the slimy floor. This is not a moment to feel unwell or overwhelmed. Thankfully, we completed the task safely and the mud box was cleaned and closed.

During my years serving at sea there were many enclosed spaces encounters, and each time I was fortunate to have either commonsense or a second sense that kept me safe. The only way I can describe it is the inner voice in your head that gives you a message to pay attention, take care, wait a moment, pause, stop.

Many years later while working as a senior executive in the steel industry, I participated in a Du Pont-based safety training programme called Take Two. The emphasis of the Du Pont approach was to pause and consider actions before doing them. Too often accidents occur because someone is under pressure to repair a piece of production machinery, and lockout or isolation procedures are not followed. So, the simple concept of Take Two was that before acting – take two minutes or more if needed to review and plan out the task.

Safety plans and safety training often have a catchy phrase or name to make them memorable, and perhaps this helps those who produce and sell such programmes to industry; clearly many are trademarked and are monetised to derive revenue. The salient issue is how we hone our common-sense skills and listen to our inner voices to ensure that we have increased awareness. Much of this we can learn through mentoring, provided that we are in an environment where we are exposed to good mentors and there is time to allow the mentoring process to work. When I reflect on the term of my four-year cadetship, I wonder how the learning experience can now be accomplished in 12 months? Is it feasible to learn, experience and be mentored in such a limited period of sea time?

I have many enclosed space encounters that remain present in my memory and the pivotal moment was always that inner voice that said, ‘Hang on – something is not right. Stop, go back – don’t go any further.’ Had I not listened I may have been another fatal statistic in a MARS report, and I would not be writing this today. So, to all of you reading this – please TAKE TWO and always listen to your inner voice before you go inside.

David Reid MA FNI