201406 Fall from pilot ladder
A pilot ladder was securely rigged by the ship’s staff and inspected by the duty OOW; the ship’s freeboard at the time was 7.60 metres. The main deck, including the pilot ladder, was well illuminated by the deck flood lights and the bridge wing lights. While disembarking via the pilot ladder one of the port officials slipped and fell onto the pilot boat. She was immediately taken ashore to seek medical attention. It was later reported that the victim had suffered a broken leg.
The vessel investigation found no inherent unsafe condition related to procedures, the pilot ladder or the environment. However, the report found that the use of a safety harness and fall prevention rope for personnel who are using the pilot ladder would reduce the risk of falling in the future.
Editor’s note: Pilot ladder accidents and incidents are more common than we would like to think. Pilots and other personnel using these ladders are exposed to falling in the water or onto the deck of the pilot boat, with the attending consequences. Obviously, wearing a life vest should be second nature when using a pilot ladder and most persons do. For some reason, fall arrest equipment has never been seriously considered for persons using a pilot ladder even though heights may reach over 8 metres. Maybe it should be.
Reports from pilots about any unsafe boarding configurations or practices they come across would be appreciated.
Comment from Nick Cutmore, Secretary General, International Maritime Pilots' Association (published in Seaways April 2014 issue)
The Editor’s comment that ‘For some reason, fall arrest equipment has never been seriously considered for persons using a pilot ladder….’ is misplaced. We have just spent eight years in discussion at IMO about the new SOLAS V R23 and A.1045 closely considering every aspect, naturally including fall arrest. As such, the main changes to SOLAS V R23 and other instruments with effect from 1 July 2012 are:
* Pilot hoists are now barred;
* Outward opening doors barred;
* Accommodation ladders and pilot ladders used in combination to be tied into hulls;
* Rubbing strakes cut away in the way of pilot ladders;
* Ladder reel arrangements set out for the first time;
* Pilot ladders are now part of the ship’s safety equipment and need to be certified.
Pilot boarding arrangements are predicated on the principle of both vessels moving. Surveyors and inspectors normally board vessels anchored head to wind with no lee and their ‘tender’ slops about in troughs while the transfer is underway.
[Pilots] are not complacent but we do not want to compound the difficulty with building-site technology either. The reason why pilots do not want such equipment is simple – they do not want to be attached to either their cutter or the ship they are boarding for fear that their flexibility to choose themselves to either climb or descend is compromised by being irrevocably attached to either vessel/craft. For example, trials in the UK using the ‘Hadrian’s Rail’ system on pilot cutters starkly demonstrated the drawbacks and dangers of such systems.