Lack of access provided

A member has reported the following incident, whereby an employee sustained an injury to his right shoulder when he fell while jumping off a Zodiac inflatable (in a cradle suspended by a crane) onto the vessel deck, using the bulwark as a step. The injury required him to seek hospital treatment and to remain off-duty for four days.

The company involved has noted that this was ‘an incident waiting to happen’, because:

• there had been no access-way/platform on the vessel to allow personnel to transfer safely between the deck and Zodiac;
• project personnel had been jumping between the Zodiac and deck for over two years – this was considered normal practice on the vessel;
• at the time of the incident, the employee’s right diving bootee had grease on its sole, which contributed to his slipping off the bulwark.

The company has now provided safe access for personnel to transfer between the Zodiac and deck and has reminded its personnel that: ‘it is everybody’s responsibility to identify and report hazards, so that immediate corrective action can be taken to prevent incidents’.