UK P&I Club published a Risk Focus, which is intended to promote best practice covering vessel owners and operators with tugs and barges.
As informed, 87% of tug claims concern injury or illness of personnel. Other claim types include collision, cargo, pollution, damage to fixed or floating objects, and fines – but the number of those claims is very small compared with personnel injury/illness claims. In terms of dollar cost of claims, the picture is very similar – personnel claims account for 79% of the value of claims. The total cost of pollution incidents has proven to be more costly than incidents of collision, damage to fixed or floating objects, and all other claim types. Therefore, personnel claims is the clear area to apply focus to reduce
the number of incidents and their impact on these vessels.
Of the total number of personnel claims, 60% are Injury and 40% are Illness. In terms of dollar value, however, 93% of the cost of personnel claims is related to injury and only 7% to illness. In summary, personnel injury is the biggest cause of claims and is the most costly claim type on tugs. “93% of the cost of
personnel claims is related to injury and only 7% to illness”
In terms of frequency and value, most claims – and the majority of cost – is associated with falls from heights (i.e. falls between two levels). Slip, trip and fall incidents (i.e. on the same level) are close behind, making fall incidents the biggest concern with tugs. Accidents resulting in burn injuries are common, but strain injuries have proven much more costly – typically because of the extent of surgery and medical aftercare required in musculoskeletal cases. Other significant accident types on tugs include getting caught in machinery and being struck by falling/flying/moving objects.
Barge Claims
In a tug and barge combination, most claims are associated with the tug. Claims associated with the barge are less common but they do occur. As
can be expected, the majority of barge claims are cargo-related. However, injuries do occur there also and, although rare, they are serious and costly. For
example, injury incidents on barges over the period 2018-2022 cost US$3 million.
Similarly to tugs, accidents on barges resulting in injury normally involve personnel falling from height or being struck by falling/flying objects.
Lifting Operations
Lifting appliances, loose lifting gear and lifting operations need to be very well managed. Failure of a lifting arrangement can have fatal consequences
for personnel involved, even with relatively lightweight loads. Therefore:
- Personnel should be adequately trained and competent in rigging/slinging and crane operating.
- All components of lifting equipment should be certified and routinely inspected.
- Appliances should be checked and safety devices tested at start-up. Loose gear should be inspected before each use. Defective equipment should be promptly taken out of service.
- When there is any suspicion that any lifting equipment or any part of that equipment may have been subjected to excessive loads, exceeding the safe working load (SWL), or subjected to treatment likely to cause damage, it should be taken out of service until it can be subjected to a thorough examination by a competent person.
Electrical Hazards
The safety of personnel from electrical hazards should be ensured. Batteries should be in a battery compartment or battery box with a lid and ventilation, and with signage indicating no smoking or naked flame, and PPE should be required for handling lead acid batteries.
