200811 Hand injury during winch greasing (again)

The bosun and a seaman were carrying out routine greasing of a mooring winch. In order to remove the dried old grease around the dog clutch and shaft, it was necessary for the seaman to extend his arm between the drum and the winch drive gear and clear it manually. With the bosun following the instructions from the seaman, the winch was being rotated intermittently, while the seaman proceeded with the task when the winch was immobile.

During one such pause, the shaft suddenly began to rotate unexpectedly, and the sleeve of the seaman's parka got caught in the clutch assembly, quickly drawing his hand into the rotating part.

Fortunately the bosun responded rapidly to the seaman's shouts and the winch was slowly and carefully operated in reverse mode until the hand was freed. First aid was administered for cuts and bruises and subsequent medical examination ashore declared the seaman fit for duty after a few days' rest.

 

View of dog clutch into which the parka sleeve and hand were drawn

 

Root cause/contributory factors
The winch power supply had not been isolated before commencement of work;
Loose fitting parka and inadequately fastened sleeve cuff.

Lessons learnt
Machinery or moving gear should be de-activated before any maintenance is carried out on or near them.
If work on a moving system cannot be avoided, the job must be carried out by two persons at least, one of them being in position to activate the emergency stop at any moment.
Clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE) must not be loose when working on or near moving systems.
Risk assessment should take into account every realistic hazard. Past risk assessments should be reviewed during onboard daily meetings so that previously identified hazards are not missed.

• Editor's note: MARS 200641 (September 2006) described a very similar incident where an unfortunate seaman lost his hand. Here is evidence, if any were needed, that such tragic accidents could be avoided if only seafarers had access to, and updated themselves regularly on, the wealth of information available in past MARS reports and other such sources. Shipping companies, safety officers and managers are encouraged to support MARS and, at the very least, effectively distribute past reports to their fleet.