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What happened?
The incident occurred while disconnecting the anchor on the starboard side of a vessel.
The riser chain was being prepared to be laid into the chain locker for stowage. Both anchor chain lockers were uncovered.
The worker went to grab an endless wire sling near the open starboard forward chain locker, but the wire sling got stuck so the worker pulled it harder and stepped backwards.
The worker stumbled into the open chain locker but managed to maintain their grip on the wire sling, preventing them from falling to the bottom of the locker.
After a couple of minutes holding onto the wire sling the worker lost their grip and fell approximately 2m (6’7”) to the bottom of the chain locker.
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Why did it happen?
The complex mooring arrangement compared to traditional rig moorings:
- created the need for the use of different chain lockers to open at the same time.
- involved multiple steps, included polyester sections, and had different lengths of chain.
Deck layout required equipment to be altered and/or shifted to accommodate chain recovery into respective lockers.
Double handling operations – constant need to change into different chain lockers made it difficult to use the grillage or to manage the risk accordingly.
Temporary safety barriers were not used.
Additional demands during chain recovery activities resulted in the crew feeling perceived pressure and contributed to them not being aware of the hazards in the area of operation or the change in risk profile.
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What did they learn?
Clarify roles and responsibilities when managing chain lockers and the use of grillage to ensure single point of accountability.
Wear a safety harness when removing / inserting grating of chain lockers.
Improve rigour of risk assessments to identify dynamic, changing environments.
Use temporary stanchions / barriers when grating is removed from chain lockers.
Promote worker situational awareness. Be more aware of surroundings and potential hazards. Use your senses, comprehend / understand the situation, and think ahead.
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Ask yourself or your crew
Do you work on a marine vessel? Are you involved in anchor handling operations? Do you work near open hatches?
Do you have temporary barriers in place when hatches on deck are opened?
Who is responsible for replacing covers on open hatches? How is this managed?
If a person fell into an open hatch on your vessel, how would you respond? What emergency protocols have you got in place?
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What happened?
The incident occurred while disconnecting the anchor on the starboard side of a vessel.
The riser chain was being prepared to be laid into the chain locker for stowage. Both anchor chain lockers were uncovered.
The worker went to grab an endless wire sling near the open starboard forward chain locker, but the wire sling got stuck so the worker pulled it harder and stepped backwards.
The worker stumbled into the open chain locker but managed to maintain their grip on the wire sling, preventing them from falling to the bottom of the locker.
After a couple of minutes holding onto the wire sling the worker lost their grip and fell approximately 2m (6’7”) to the bottom of the chain locker.
Why did it happen?
The complex mooring arrangement compared to traditional rig moorings:
- created the need for the use of different chain lockers to open at the same time.
- involved multiple steps, included polyester sections, and had different lengths of chain.
Deck layout required equipment to be altered and/or shifted to accommodate chain recovery into respective lockers.
Double handling operations – constant need to change into different chain lockers made it difficult to use the grillage or to manage the risk accordingly.
Temporary safety barriers were not used.
Additional demands during chain recovery activities resulted in the crew feeling perceived pressure and contributed to them not being aware of the hazards in the area of operation or the change in risk profile.
What did they learn?
Clarify roles and responsibilities when managing chain lockers and the use of grillage to ensure single point of accountability.
Wear a safety harness when removing / inserting grating of chain lockers.
Improve rigour of risk assessments to identify dynamic, changing environments.
Use temporary stanchions / barriers when grating is removed from chain lockers.
Promote worker situational awareness. Be more aware of surroundings and potential hazards. Use your senses, comprehend / understand the situation, and think ahead.
Ask yourself or your crew
Do you work on a marine vessel? Are you involved in anchor handling operations? Do you work near open hatches?
Do you have temporary barriers in place when hatches on deck are opened?
Who is responsible for replacing covers on open hatches? How is this managed?
If a person fell into an open hatch on your vessel, how would you respond? What emergency protocols have you got in place?
While disconnecting the anchor on the starboard side of a vessel, a worker stumbled into an open chain locker after pulling on a stuck wire sling. Despite initially maintaining their grip, the worker eventually fell approximately 2 metres (6’7") to the bottom of the locker.
Original material courtesy of Safer Together (Australia)
To access the PDF and PowerPoint versions, please visit https://www.safertogether.com.au/resources/sharing-library/anchor-handling-person-fall-from-height-learning-event-bulletin
