As the UK MAIB informs in its latest Safety Digest Edition for 2022, a shore worker used an accommodation ladder that was no longer in use for access, losing his balance and falling into the sea, sustaining injuries.
The incident
A shore worker boarded a berthed bulk carrier via the accommodation ladder to obtain a signature on some paperwork. Because of the falling tide, the accommodation ladder was then stowed, its safety net was removed and the crew started to rig an access brow.
The shore worker returned to the deck with the signed paperwork and was advised by the crew to wait a few minutes for the brow to be safely prepared for his disembarkation. He was also informed that the accommodation ladder was no longer in use for access.
However, the shore worker ignored the crew’s direction and walked along the stowed accommodation ladder, intending to jump ashore from its lower platform. At the lower platform, the shore worker slipped, lost his balance and fell over 8m into the sea between ship and shore, suffering significant injuries.
The alarm was raised and emergency services were quick to arrive on scene. Meanwhile, the C/O climbed down the jetty ladder and pulled the shore worker out of the water and safely into a recess just above sea level.
From there, the shore worker was evacuated to hospital on a stretcher for treatment of his injuries.
Lessons learned
- Procedure: The shore worker was largely responsible for his own injuries. Crew instructions to visitors are not optional advice. The crew member on gangway duty acted properly by instructing the shore worker to wait to use the brow; however, this was ignored. This accident demonstrates the importance of safe means of access and the importance of managing and, where necessary, directing visitors on board to be safe.
- Risk: More haste seldom leads to more speed. Rushing to depart led to a nasty fall into the sea and injuries that required hospital treatment. Although waiting for the brow to be rigged might have seemed tiresome, the short delay to the shore worker’s departure paled in comparison to the pain and inconvenience he suffered from the fall.
- Equipment: Safe means of access is crucial. When rigged, and with a safety net in place, the accommodation ladder represented a safe means of access; however, the tidal state meant it was no longer able to be used. The crew acted to remedy this and rig alternative means of access, but the shore worker was impatient to leave and, tempted by what he perceived to be an easy jump to the jetty, he contravened the crew’s instructions and took an unsafe route off the vessel.
