Hong Kong MARDEP shared lessons learned from a fatal fall of a Second Engineer from a set of staggered vertical ladders to the bottom of a cargo hold onboard a Hong Kong-registered bulk carrier.
The incident
When the ship completed partial cargo discharge at berth, the crew held a safety meeting regarding the cleaning of empty cargo holds onboard.
After the meeting, the Second Engineer and the rest of the working crew started to clean a cargo hold with oily cargo residue by using compressed air.
Whilst the Second Engineer climbed down a set of staggered vertical ladders carrying with him the hose for compressed air, he suddenly fell to the bottom of the cargo hold from a height of three to four metres, resulting in severe cerebral injury beyond treatment.
Findings
The investigation identified that the requirements and procedures of cargo hold cleaning work as stipulated in the shipboard safety management manual had not been followed, and more specifically:
- failure to wear a safety belt when working aloft,
- holding tools when climbing along ladders, and
- lack of supervision by the designated person in charge.
Lessons learned
It is important that all crew should be conversant with and abide by the requirements and procedures of cargo hold cleaning work in the shipboard safety management manual, and wear personal protective equipment such as safety belts when working aloft.
