Hong Kong Merchant Shipping notes a case where a deck fitter was scrapping the gasket between the filter cover and its casing and suddenly hit his forehead.
The case
A Hong Kong registered gas carrier (the vessel) was en route from Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Houston, United States of America, via the Panama Canal. During the voyage, the fitter led the trainee to replace the filter element of the filter for the cargo refrigeration system in the compressor and motor room as routine maintenance.
After opening the top cover of the filter, the fitter attempted to free the filter element by scrapping the gasket between the filter cover and its casing, during which the filter element was suddenly ejected and hit his forehead. The fitter then fell backwards onto the walkway grating, losing consciousness with his forehead bleeding. The trainee nearby called the bridge immediately to seek assistance. The fitter was transferred to the vessel’s hospital for first aid treatment. Onshore medical advice was sought and treatment was applied to the fitter, while the vessel diverted her course to pick up the paramedics.
Unfortunately, the fitter was later declared dead by the paramedics on board before arriving ashore.
Findings
The investigation revealed that the main contributory factors of the accident were lack of safety awareness and underestimating the risk of replacing filter element by not strictly following the maker’s safety instructions.
Lessons learned
- conduct maintenance work for refrigeration systems strictly in accordance with the maker’s safety instructions.
- enhance the safe working practices on board, specifically to ensure that when any pressurized equipment and systems require maintenance, they are fully depressurized beforehand.
