Unsafe method of rope work resulted in severe hand injury

The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published safety alert number 16-22 regarding an incident in which a crewman suffered serious injuries to three of his fingers during mooring operations. The incident occurred when the crew of the vessel were preparing mooring lines for arrival in port. An Able Seaman was spooling a mooring line from the starboard locker to the starboard tugger winch aft. During this operation, a crow bar slipped and the seaman was forced against the guide roller. He caught his fingers between the crow bar and roller, leading to injuries to three of his fingers, including loss of one joint of a finger.

The MSF safety alert records the following:

• Immediate cause: an unsafe method for spooling line onto the tugger winch;
• Basic causal factors included:
  • poor planning: there was no risk assessment conducted before the job, nor was a toolbox talk meeting held
  • the seaman performing the work was new on board the vessel.

The full report can be found at marinesafetyforum.org/images/msf-safety-alert-16.22.pdf

Members may wish to refer to the following incident (search words: unsafe, mooring):

• Mooring incidents

Members may also wish to refer to Mooring practice safety guidance for offshore vessels when alongside in ports and harbours.