201951 Thumb squeezed while unhooking

A deck rating and a cadet were bringing the vessel’s hose handling crane into operation. The first manoeuvre was to release the hook from its stowed position. The cadet was handling the securing strop on the
crane’s hook while the deck rating lowered the crane block.

As the cadet began to remove the securing strop, the rating noticed the crane wire getting too slack on its drum; he immediately heaved up on the wire without informing the cadet. The hook moved suddenly
upwards, trapping the cadet’s left thumb between the hook and the securing strop.

The victim suffered a severe crush injury to the thumb and was signed off the vessel for medical attention ashore.

Lessons learned

• Safe crane operations are essentially a three person job. One for the crane controls, one to manipulate the hook and strops and one to signal to the crane operator.