High percentage of fall injuries and fatalities in maritime industry
AMSA has published a bulletin to provide an overview of falls from height statistics and a discussion of how safety culture can reduce accidents in this area.
Falls from height are one of the major categories of serious injuries and fatalities for Australian seafarers. Data suggests that the maritime industry has a higher percentage of fall injuries and fatalities than shore based industries. Alarmingly, Safe Work Australia (SWA) data shows that the incident rate (serious claims per 1000 employees) in the maritime industry is possibly as bad and sometimes worse than the construction industry, which is considered a high risk industry in this area because it suffers the greatest proportion of land based falls from height injuries and fatalities.
Incident rate (serious claims per 1000 employees) for Water Freight Transport, Water Passenger Transport and Water Support Services. (Source: SWA)
This situation is not only of concern to those directly involved, but is also costly to the Australian maritime industry, with falls from height compensation claims for the period 2012-13 amounting to almost two million dollars.
Compensation paid for falls from height for ships under the Seafarers Act for financial years 2009-14. (Source: Seacare)
Falls from height data 2008-2013 |
Between 2008 and 2013, 122 falls from height in the maritime industry were reported to AMSA and the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau (ATSB). Eight of these were serious enough to warrant an ATSB safety investigation. These falls from height were generally the result of a complex set of circumstances, often involving a number of contributory safety factors. Number of fatalities and injuries due to falls from height 2008-13 (source: AMSA) Safety factors identified from the falls from height data have been classified and include individual factors, environmental aspects, issues with design and equipment (such as maintenance), shortfalls in risk control measures and policies and procedures. In most cases, there was more than one safety factor type associated with each fall from height incident. Number of safety factors identified in falls from height incidents 2008-13 (source: AMSA and ATSB) To some extent, the larger number of individual factors identified and reported by industry suggests that the broader organisational and safety culture issues are often not considered during on board investigations. Most incident reports take an individualistic approach to causality, usually placing the responsibility on the last person involved in the chain of events. In reality, incidents are generally the result of a complex combination of factors which create conditions within which the final action, mistake or error can occur. |
Also read the following articles regarding the dangers of working at heights: The dangers of working at heights below deck |
Source:AMSA