Personal Injury claims due to poor maintenance of railings and gratings
Loss prevention Bulletin by the UK P&I Club The UK P&I Club would like to remind Members that railings and walkway grates are an integral safety feature of the ship to crew, visitors, passengers and longshoremen when moving around the vessel. If visual inspection of these features reveals corrosion or wear, effective maintenance should take place at the first opportunity. It should also be noted that the wear to the protective paint coatings should be rectified quickly as these will precipitate the metal corrosion process if left untreated.In a recent case brought against an entered vessel a longshoreman leant against a railing whilst unlashing a container and fell sustaining a serious back injury. Upon investigation, it was found that the railing gave way due to it being seriously degraded from rust and decay and therefore was not structurally strong enough for a worker to lean against while performing lashing duties.A separate incident involving another longshoreman resulted in a claim against the Club when a longshoreman fell through a missing lashing bridge walkway grating. Investigations revealed the grate had become dislodged because it was missing its bottom most rung that would ordinarily had secured it to the pad eyes located on ...
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