Welder at work injured during close SIMOPS

What happened?

A welder was hit and slightly injured by a lashing wire during lashing operations being conducted close by.  Whilst all the deck crew were lashing reels, a welder was busy welding lashing eyes.  The duty officer marked out the position for the lashing eyes.  The welder had to weld the lashing eyes to the deck very close to the lashing crew.  Whilst he was welding, he was hit in the neck by a lashing wire.  He did not pay much attention to it and continued welding.

This incident was not seen or noticed by anyone else except the welder.  He reported it two days after when he felt a stiff and swollen neck.  He was given first aid treatment and returned to work.

What went wrong?

• Simultaneous operations were not properly or safely managed:
  • no proper safety meeting when several persons and operations were going on/doing job in the same area
  • there was inadequate supervision
  • there was inadequate awareness on surroundings
  • there was inadequate job preparation. Pulling wires through small openings might occasionally slip from one man’s hands.

What lessons were learned?

• Persons in supervisory roles should ensure that there is adequate pre-task preparation, toolbox talks etc, and that these are clearly understand by the crew members;
• Designate someone to keep watch and monitor the operations – particularly during hot work;
• Be aware of your surroundings, especially when there are a number of jobs taking place in the same area.

Members may wish to refer to:

• Toolbox talks (Be prepared to work safely short promotional video)
• Risk assessment (IMCA SEL 021, video)
• Crewman falls down open hatchway during simultaneous operations
• Management of simultaneous operations during demobilisation [A similar incident from 2008 in which a member of the crew undertaking ‘routine’ disconnection of cables on deck was hit by a steel beam dislodged by operations that were taking place overhead on a higher deck]