IMCA describes an incident during which a sailor died after falling from a collapsing scaffolding on board and describes what contributed to this unfortunate situation.
The incident
The Hong Kong Merchant Shipping organization reports an incident in which a sailor was killed in a fall from collapsing scaffolding. The bosun and AB were assigned to rig a scaffolding to the maintenance platform which was bolted to the gusset plates at the boom of the port side hose handling crane (the boom) on the main deck.
While they were working on the maintenance platform of the boom setting the scaffolding, all of a sudden the platform and the scaffolding collapsed at the same time. The bosun fell onto the platform railing and safely climbed back to the boom.
It is noted that the AB had worn a safety harness and anchored it to the platform railing in the form of a choker hitch. However, the lanyard of the safety harness snapped and failed to prevent him from falling from the platform at a height of about 7.9 metres onto the main deck.
Later on the same day, the AB was declared dead.
Probable cause
Investigation revealed that the securing bolts of the platform support were seriously corroded and failed to support the weight acting on it, resulting in the collapse of the platform.
Lessons learned
There are some key factors that contributed to this incident, needing to be taken into consideration, in order to prevent such accidents from happening in the future.
Accordingly:
- Poor risk assessment;
- Poor supervision of scaffolding work being carried out by the crew without training record of scaffolding;
- Non-compliance of the configuration of the scaffolding including the non-compliance of its structural steel rods with a generally recognized standard;
- Insufficient safety instructions or guidelines for scaffolding work provided by the management company of the vessel;
- Inappropriate maintenance of the safety harness;
- Insufficient training on using personal protective equipment.
