Safe working at heights
Marine Notices 03/2003
The attention of Shipowners, Operators, Masters, Officers and Crew is drawn to a recent spate of accidents involving working at heights, causing injuries and fatalities, which occurred on vessels in Australian waters.
In one incident a worker fell nine metres into a cargo hold. The hold did not have barriers in place and the worker was not wearing any fall arrest device. The worker fell onto cargo, which cushioned his fall, thus preventing fatal injuries.
In another incident, an officer was leaning over the bridge wing railing to ensure lights positioned under the bridge wing were functional, prior to the vessels arrival in port. The officer lost his footing as the vessel rolled and fell to his death 15 metres below. No fall arrest device was used.
In a third incident, a crew member fell more than 13 metres into No. 1 hold. The crewmember was wearing an improperly buckled safety belt, which came undone, resulting in the fall. This crewmember also fell onto cargo, which cushioned his fall.
The most recent incident involved a crewmember of a foreign flagged vessel in an Australian port. The crewmember was involved in hold cleaning duties prior to loading grain. He was wearing a safety belt, which he had attached to a steel protection plate welded across frames to protect a pipe running between the frames. The weld on the protection plate failed and the crewmember fell 12 metres to his death.
The use of safety belts for work involving heights on merchant vessels is considered an unsafe practice. Research has shown that a person suspended from a properly fitted safety belt will hang upside down, because the upper body tends to be heavier than the lower body in most instances. There is also evidence to suggest damage to internal organs upon impact , when wearing safety belts.
AS/NZS 1891.1:1995 _ `Industrial Fall Arrest Systems and Devices' requires "that full harness be worn in any situation involving the possibility of free fall". The Code of Safe Working Practice for Australian Seafarers suggests the use of safety harnesses when working at heights. Attention is drawn to Chapter 15 of the Code titled Working Aloft and Over the Side.
Safety harnesses are full body harnesses, which distribute the load generated during a fall over a larger area of the body, thus minimising injury. When used in conjunction with a 'snap hook' assembly, a person can carry out work at heights in relative safety. The two snap hooks are hooked on to two separate strong points and would therefore go a long way in preventing the kind of tragedies mentioned above.
In the event of a fall, the person suspended by his/her harness is a true medical emergency. Motionless or unconscious suspension in strap harnesses, for even a very short period of time, sets up a blood venous pooling effect, which will become dangerous if rescue methods do not address this effect. Oxygen flow into the respiratory tract plus slight elevation of the legs is vitally important for successful rescue. During training, personnel should be informed of the importance of moving body parts frequently in a post-fall wait for rescue.
Persons working over the shipside should wear lifejackets or other suitable floatation devices. A stand-by person should be in attendance on deck. A lifebuoy with a line attached should be readily available.
Shipowners, Operators, Masters, Officers and Crew are strongly urged to exercise due care to ensure compliance with the appropriate international and national standards and codes of practice when undertaking work involving heights.
Clive Davidson
Chief Executive Officer
23 January 2003
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
GPO Box 2181
CANBERRA ACT 2601
File No: 030264
Term of Validity: Permanent
Internet address for all current Marine Notices: AMSA
Website
last updated: January 2003